Dangerous Crossing
The pronghorn antelope that migrate 170 miles (273 kilometers) south from Grand Teton National Park to their winter range face plenty of obstacles: rivers, fences, a high mountain pass, subdivisions, energy development. For years the most dangerous place in the migration corridor has been where the animals cross Highway 191 west of Pinedale, Wyoming.
For thousands of years this has been a tricky spot in the migration-a geographic bottleneck formed by two rivers that funnel animals onto a mile-wide strip of land. An archaeological site here unearthed 7,000-year-old charcoal pits and bones, the oldest evidence of humans hunting pronghorn antelope in the world. The bottleneck is called Trappers' Point, named for the mountain man rendezvous that took place here in the 19th century. Every spring and fall, thousands of migrating antelope and mule deer cross the highway here.
In modern times, cars and trucks, as well as semitrucks from the nearby natural gas fields, speeding along at 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour, have increased the danger. A subdivision blocks half the bottleneck, and Highway 191, the main roadway connecting I-80 to Jackson Hole, runs across its middle flanked on both sides by barbed-wire fences. An average of 140 antelope and mule deer a year meet their end along this 12-mile (19-kilometer) stretch of road. Drivers are at risk too; collisions with wildlife can cause injury and death.
—Emilene Ostlind
Pictures: Overpass Helps Pronghorn Migration
Pronghorn antelopes cross a busy Wyoming highway on an overpass built to help them navigate a dangerous bottleneck in their migration.
