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Source: 2024 WSDOT Fish Passage Annual Report

Talking points from the Executive Summary (editorial comments in italics):

• Statewide there are 4,037 highway crossings on fish bearing waters. Of those, 2,074 are documented fish passage barriers, including 2,040 culverts.
• WSDOT completed 32 fish passage projects in 2023, improving access to 67.39 miles of potential upstream habitat. (One of these projects opened up North Creek as it passes under 128th St. at the northern boundary of McCollum Park.)
• The 32 projects corrected were Federal Court Injunction barrier culverts. Since 2013, WSDOT has worked to comply with the requirements of a U.S. District Court injunction to correct barriers to salmon and steelhead within the case area (outlined in map below). As of June 1, 2024, WSDOT has corrected 146 injunction barrier culverts and restored access to 571.18 miles of potential habitat for salmon and steelhead. Statewide, WSDOT has completed 420 fish passage barrier corrections to date.
  

Habitat Connectivity Update
Sources:    

• WSDOT
• The Washington Wildlife Habitat Connectivity Working Group
“The people of Washington treasure our state’s wildlife and natural places. However, as our state becomes increasingly populated and developed, connections across the landscape necessary for wildlife survival are being broken. Wildlife require the ability to move from one habitat to another in search of mates, food, shelter, and new homes as conditions change.”

The Problem
High-traffic corridors, (such as I-5) present physical barriers to the movement of animals throughout their habitats.  These barriers have at least two consequences: 

• Road-kill deaths that diminish the viability of the populations of animals affected.
• De facto transformation of the populations into smaller ones by the bisecting of their habitat areas by the interstate. These smaller populations potentially become genetically isolated from one another, resulting in less genetic diversity within each smaller population.

The Response
WSDOT has identified “two sections of Interstate 5 between Olympia and Vancouver [that] bisect critical wildlife corridors linking the Cascade Mountains to the Willapa Hills and the Olympic Peninsula.” These have been labeled the North Linkage Zone and the South Linkage Zone.  Each zone is about nine miles long; they are the “only locations along I-5 that could provide viable connections between ecosystems isolated by transportation features. The opportunities to bridge these barriers along I-5 are quickly dwindling due to rapid development of adjacent areas.”
Consultants are completing a feasibility study with federal, state, and tribal government agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, and individuals to determine connectivity solutions across I-5 in these areas.