Wildlands Network

Since 1991, Wildlands Network has been committed to reconnecting, restoring and rewilding North America for the benefit of all species.
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Our work is founded in science, driven by fieldwork and furthered through strategic policy and partnerships.

08/21/2026

Every weekday, a Wildlands Network field team drives the same 30-mile stretch of U.S. 64 through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, documenting every animal killed on the road.

Over 22 months: 7,214 animals, 155 species.

The data will act as a baseline to help measure the success of wildlife crossings that are underway, and inform the location of future crossings within the study area.

Read the full story at the link below.

📸 Ron Sutherland

08/19/2026

Nathan and Jesse know US-64 better than almost anyone.

In this video they're walking a new Wildliands Network technician through the survey routine they and their colleagues have run since August 2024, driving the road every weekday, documenting every animal killed, and removing carcasses before scavengers reach them, from warblers and snakes to the occasional deer or bear.

The data is just as important as the removal. It's building the baseline that will measure the success of wildlife crossings on one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the refuge, and inform where future crossings go.

Both of them hope to come back when the crossings are built, knowing the contributed countless hours to such an important piece of this project.

As Nathan and Jesse move on, they're leaving the work in good hands, training the next cohort of techs. We're proud to have had them as part of our team on the ground doing this work.

08/17/2026

Wildlife-vehicle collisions cost the Southeast an estimated $3.5 billion a year. North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia are each building dedicated funding streams to address this critical issue, and unlocking federal dollars in the process.

Their approaches offer a roadmap for the rest of the Eastern Wildway. Read the full breakdown at the link in bio.

08/14/2026

Appalachia is one of the world’s most biologically rich temperate regions and home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.

Our field research across the region is showing what it will take to keep wildlife connected.

GPS-collared elk are helping identify where road mitigation could make the greatest difference.

Wildlife underpasses designed for timber rattlesnakes and eastern box turtles are also being used by bobcats, spotted skunks, salamanders, cottontail rabbits, grey foxes, and more.

And cougar habitat and connectivity modeling indicates that potential habitat extends through parts of the southern, central, and northern Appalachian Mountains and the potential for natural dispersal, if they can get here safely and state policies support their dispersal.

Read the full story on our blog. Link below.

08/13/2026

Today, we're celebrating International Wolf Day with camera trap images from our archives of one of the most remarkable and historically misunderstood species in North America: the red wolf.

Back in 2012, the wild population had climbed to 120 animals across North Carolina's Albemarle Peninsula. Then a misinformation campaign alleged the wolves were decimating deer and other game, and local landowners and hunters started shooting them again.

Our camera traps set to challenge this notion told a different story. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, the heart of red wolf country, is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the East Coast of North America.

The images captured revealed a thriving ecosystem – fields full of black bears, bobcats, turkeys, white-tailed deer, and an enormous diversity of reptiles, amphibians, and songbirds.

International Wolf Day exists to challenge exactly these kinds of myths and raise awareness for wolf conservation. For red wolves, that awareness is vital.

08/12/2026

Elk disappeared from most of the eastern United States by the mid-1800s. In western North Carolina, they're back, and expanding beyond Great Smoky Mountains National Park into the surrounding landscape.

Wildlands Network Senior Wildlife Biologist Liz Hillard uses GPS-collar data to study where elk are moving, where they cross major roads, and where targeted safety and connectivity measures could support the long-term viability of a small and recovering population.

08/11/2026

Oregon’s first wildlife overcrossing on I-5 is officially on the horizon, and we were on the ground to see where history will be made.

Last week, we toured upcoming wildlife crossing projects in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument with our partners at the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition.

The stakes are high. Busy interstates split critical migration corridors, disrupting the movement deer, elk, black bears, cougars, and rare species like the Pacific fisher need to survive.

Once built, this overpass will span all lanes of I-5, using directional fencing to guide animals safely across. Underneath, specialized wildlife “benches” will help small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles bypass traffic safely.

Thoughtful engineering proves human infrastructure and wild nature can successfully coexist.

Swipe through to see the future site and the official design rendering. A special shoutout to Jack Williams of Trout Unlimited for his incredible leadership on the ground.

08/10/2026

Elk were reintroduced to Great Smoky Mountains National Park after more than a century of absence. The population is still small and recovering, so the loss of even a few animals to vehicle collisions can have an outsized effect.

Elk are often active near dawn and dusk, when low light can make them difficult for drivers to see, as seen in these pictures.

GPS data from 13 collared elk documented crossings of the Blue Ridge Parkway, US-19, I-40, and US-441, revealing that elk repeatedly cross these roads in specific locations.

Our research is identifying those concentrated crossing areas, and where targeted safety and connectivity measures such as wildlife crossings could make the greatest difference for elk and drivers.

📸 Ron Sutherland

08/07/2026

Liz Hillard and her team have analyzed over three-quarters of a million camera trap photos from four culvert underpasses at Gorges State Park in North Carolina.

The structures were designed with timber rattlesnakes and eastern box turtles in mind. It turns out they're not the only animals using them.

We’ve documented them, along with their neighbors: bobcats, long-tailed weasels, spotted skunks, salamanders, cottontail rabbits, wood rats, foxes, and other wildlife entering or moving through the structures.

This is what wildlife crossing research looks like in Appalachia.

Address

P. O. Box 243
Salt Lake City, UT
84110

Telephone

+12065385363

Website

https://wildlandsnetwork.org/

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