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Vehicle collisions with wildlife injure and kill hundreds of people and animals each year in Utah. Conservation groups say building more wildlife crossings could limit the cost and the carnage.

A bill pending in the Utah Legislature would establish a fund dedicated to building wildlife crossings to keep animals off the state's highways. Isobel Lingenfelter, conservation director for the Utah Wildlife Federation, said these crossings are the most effective way to keep animals and cars apart.

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"The most obvious example is every year that we get a good hard snow, we're starting to see elk come out on I-80," she said, "and it disrupts the traffic between Salt Lake and Park City, which is a pretty important arterial."

Studies show that the thousands of animal collisions cost the state $137 million a year in health care and property damage, and they also hurt the hunting and agriculture industries.

House Bill 431 has bipartisan support and would provide a repository for state, federal and private funding for the crossings.

Conservation groups warn that the vehicle-animal collisions are taking out many more mule deer than hunting or predation. Mule deer are hit on Utah’s roadways more than any other animal.

Greg Sheehan, president and CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation, said research estimates that one in five mule deer are killed by collisions or starvation, while only one in 100 is lost to hunting.

"We've continued to see our mule deer decline throughout the West, throughout their full range, since the mid part of the last century, since the 1960s," he said. "In fact, their numbers are down 50 percent to 60 percent."

Since 1975, Utah has installed more than 60 animal bridges and underpasses, making it one of the top five states in the country for protecting wildlife. Sheehan said that mule deer are a key driver of Utah’s hunting sector, which brings in $331 million annually.