The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (VTF&W) work together to keep Vermont's state highways safe for wildlife and for drivers.
Safety and Wildlife Conservation
Our priority is to minimize roadkill incidents in Vermont, both for the safety of our drivers and for the conservation of our wildlife. The VTrans/VTF&W collaboration to improve road crossings for wildlife is the envy of other states and we have, in fact, hosted conferences to teach other states' agencies our methods for improving road safety for wildlife and people.
What Drivers Can Do
Roadkill information helps identify where Vermont’s road system is still acting as a barrier to wildlife movement and can assist fish and wildlife and transportation managers locate areas where improvement is necessary. You can help us learn more about where wildlife are crossing roads by using the Roadkill Observation and Data System (ROaDS) to report roadkill and animals close to the road.
You can also report observed roadkills by contacting your Vermont State Police local barracks.
The two departments continue to work to improve wildlife crossing areas and to warn drivers of high-incidence stretches in order to make Vermont safe for wildlife and for drivers. Please stay alert while traveling Vermont's roadways and feel free to reach out to us for additional information.
When Roadkills Occur
Efforts to minimize roadkill, however, are not always successful, and there are times when animals are killed along Vermont's roads. When this happens, our main consideration is driver safety. VTrans and state game wardens work with help from Vermont State Police to move the animal quickly out of the traveled portion of the state highway so that it will not be a hazard for drivers. If the animal is near a field or wooded area, staff does their best to move the animal out of view from the road and allow nature to take its course.
Whenever possible, wardens attempt to collect the animal and donate it to people who will salvage it and make use of the meat. However, there are some places, such as the medians of busy interstate highways, where it is not safe or practical for staff to access a carcass, and which may result in the carcass remaining in plain view of drivers until it decomposes naturally. When safe to access the carcass and where dragging it into cover is not an option, it may be physically relocated to an area suitable for disposal outside the State owned right-of-way.