New Mexico OKs its 1st wildlife bridges to limit collisions

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico will build its first wildlife overpasses across highways to provide safe passage to free-roaming cougars, black bears, bighorn sheep and other creatures. It is also setting aside $100 million for conservation projects. Those two initiatives were signed into law Thursday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Advocates for the initiatives say the state stands to capture millions of dollars in federal matching funds for wildlife crossings and an array of established conservation programs. Several hundred large animals are killed in New Mexico each year in road collisions that can also total cars and severely injure human passengers.