Preacher Canyon Wildlife Fence and Crosswalk Enhancement ...

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project would not have been successful without the aid of many individuals and entities.
We thank Tom Goodman, Jack Tagler, James Laird, Dallas Hammit, and Tom Foster
(retired) of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Prescott District for their
oversight, support, and commitment to adaptive management and facilitation of an
environmentally friendly and safe highway. We also thank Rebecca Miller and Cheryl
Banta, formerly of ADOT Transportation Enhancement, for their support, coordination, and
oversight. Siobhan Nordhaugen, Bruce Eilerts and Todd Williams with ADOT Office of
Environmental Services provided invaluable support, and Doug Eberline, of ADOT
Transportation Planning Division, provided invaluable traffic data and support. We thank
Robert Ingram (retired) of the U.S. Forest Service, Tonto National Forest (TNF) for his daily
oversight and on the ground expertise and willingness to support the project and new ideas,
along with Terry Brennan, Ed Armenta, Sharon Hansen and Duke Klein also of TNF at some
point during planning and implementation of this project. Steve Thomas and Aryan Lirange
of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) displayed tremendous commitment to
making this project possible. We thank the dedication of AZTEC Engineering’s Mike
Shirley, Mark Henige, Karim Dada and Mark Chase for valuable oversight and design of
project components, and the willingness to adapt to meet project goals and objectives; and
Barb Macnider for assistance with technical editing. We appreciate ElectroBraid Fence,
Inc.’s David Bryson, Richard Lampman, Michael Bryson, Susan Lampman, Scott Syms, and
the rest of their crew for their dedication to implementing the project components under a
flexible context to ensure that all pieces worked as needed to meet project objectives. We
thank Joe Wise of Solar Solutions, Inc. for dedication to ensuring roadside animal detection
system (RADS) and sign performance. We thank Arizona Game and Fish Department
(AGFD) personnel Sue Boe for her Geographic Information System expertise and analysis
and Rob Nelson and Chad Loberger for data collection and video system maintenance, as
well as Chasa O’Brien for Research Branch project support. We appreciate the support from
the AGFD’s Mesa Region, including Craig McMullen, Henry Apfel, John Dickson and Rod
Lucas. We also thank the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Arizona Elk Society for their
support. Lastly, we thank Bill Leister with the Central Arizona Council of Governments for
his commitment to and support of this project in helping secure funding and implementation.
FUNDING FOR THE PROJECT
AGFD, in cooperation with the ADOT Prescott District, submitted an enhancement project
proposal in July 2003, through the Transportation Equity ACT of the 21 st Century (TEA-21)
application process. Our project proposal fell under Category 11: Reduce Vehicle Caused
Wildlife Mortality While Maintaining Habitat Connectivity, and was Arizona’s first project
proposal ever submitted under this category. The project was approved in early 2004,
comprehensive project planning was completed in 2005, and full project implementation was
accomplished by February 2007. Many people acknowledged above contributed to making
this one of the quickest implementations of an enhancement grant in Arizona. AGFD
received additional funding from ADOT to conduct the research evaluation of the
effectiveness of the different fence designs, the RADS and crosswalk, and all other elements
of the project. Amendment No. 1 to the Interagency Agreement for ADOT Project No.
TEA-260-B(008)A (JPA 04-088) was executed on June 13, 2006, and stipulated that the
research evaluation would be conducted and that AGFD would “… recommend to the State
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