Today’s Solutions: November 02, 2024

Anyone who has gone on a road trip is familiar with the sight of roadkill on the side of the highway, but in some areas, this problem is more pronounced than others. For example, deer were being killed regularly along the roads in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but that all changed when the state reintroduced wild wolves. 

When gray wolves from Canada and Minnesota were brought back to the area, vehicle collisions involving deer went way down. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin quantified these results and found that once wolves colonize a county, deer-vehicle collisions go down about 24 percent. 

When wolves return to an area, they keep the deer populations at stable levels, in turn providing benefits for entire ecosystems and the humans that drive through them. A study from the U.S. Department of Transportation found that deer-vehicle crashes cost more than $8 billion annually in damages. 

Safer roads aren’t the only benefit of species reintroduction. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone in 1995 has had monumental effects on the local ecosystem. With wolves to hunt elk, birch trees have been able to grow back, supporting beavers which in turn build dams to ameliorate the health of streams and rivers. 

Source study: PNAS – Wolves make roadways safer, generating large economic returns to predator conservation

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

This heartwarming Danish ad breaks down the ‘Us vs Them’ narrative

It’s rare that we publish a story about an advertisement, but then again it’s rare that an ad stirs so much emotion within its ...

Read More

NOAHs: Charlotte has a formula for long-lasting affordable housing

We recently shared how empty retail space could be the solution to California’s affordable housing crisis. Across the country in North Carolina, the city ...

Read More

A seat at the table for underrepresented communities

Climate change is already affecting all of us—however, those that bear the brunt of these consequences are predominantly from low-income, marginalized, BIPOC communities. So ...

Read More

Expanding democracy: Michigan opens new doors for formerly incarcerated voters

Malijah Gee's path from incarceration at the age of 17 to imminent freedom reflects the longing for a voice that has been suppressed for 36 years. ...

Read More