They Can Do It!
Photography: David Schultz
The legendary Rosie the Riveter, iconic symbol for can-do women, pales in comparison to two kick-butt Park City ladies who will stop at (almost) nothing to get the job done. The task for which they’re rolling up their sleeves is nothing less than protecting wildlife from ending up as collateral damage on local highways, and preserving the natural habitats of moose, deer, elk, fox and other wildlife from residential and commercial building sprawl.
When Jackie Fehr discovered plans in the works to develop property that straddled a wildlife corridor and critical winter range near Quarry Mountain, she expressed her outrage at a meeting attended by Judy Perry. Perry stepped forward and offered to help Fehr in her fight to preserve corridors and habitats, but discouraged Fehr from wasting her time on the existing project which had been pre-approved. “She was adamant about trying to protect this wildlife, and I was adamant about looking at the bigger picture of how to protect wildlife (in general),” says Perry. Together they formed Wildlife Protection Society (WPS), and armed themselves with sufficient facts and figures to begin storming city hall, county government departments and even the state capitol.
Summit County Public Works Administrator Kevin Callahan was approached by Perry and Fehr asking for the county’s commitment to signage on highways that warns drivers about wildlife corridors and for support of their community education program.
“Based on my experience with citizens who want government to take on a new project, they were extremely well prepared in having conducted research on the issue and identifying specific actions they wanted local government to take,” says Callahan.
According to Fehr and Perry, WPS, which was formed in January 2007, has already accomplished several goals, including the following actions:
• Approval on a Wildlife Sticker Campaign for bikers and hikers, in cooperation with Mountain Trails Foundation, Snyderville Basin Recreation District and Park City Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
• Approval by Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) for the installation of signs warning motorists of the presence of wildlife on US Hwy 40 and I-80.
• Establishment of a wild animals’ adoption program, which creates revenue for the purchase of six UDOT signs to be placed on state routes 224 and 248.
• Creation of community and visitor awareness programs, with presentations offered through schools, community organizations and area nature centers; participation in community events such as Park City’s 4th of July parade and Park Silly Sunday Market; and through local media and Chamber of Commerce exposure.
• Creation of a task force composed of Summit and Wasatch counties and PCMC to establish language and policies in government at each level to include wildlife as a priority, ensuring open space, safe passage and secure seasonal habitats, as well as to protect and guard wildlife against over-population and building.
• Creation of a Critter Crossing Patrol which gathers data on animals in the local area with the goal of reducing the number of vehicle/animal collisions.
Fehr and Perry agree the two most critical issues facing WPS are the assurance of the protection of wildlife’s range, habitats and birthing areas before granting approval to development; and public education about what to do and not to do regarding wildlife encounters.
“I envision Park City embracing these animals and celebrating that they are here,” says Fehr.
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