Making Way for Wildlife: Reconnecting Nature Across Our Landscapes

Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. From frogs and turtles to bears and bobcats, more than a million animals are killed on roads every day in the U.S. alone. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates, and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat.

Today, road ecologists are seeking to blunt that destruction through innovative solutions. Conservationists are building bridges for mountain lions and tunnels for toads, engineers are deconstructing the labyrinth of logging roads that web national forests, and community organizers are working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon American cities.

Join Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) for an engaging and enlightening event exploring road ecology and wildlife connectivity, featuring two nationally recognized leaders in the field.

Dr. Patricia Cramer will share an overview of how communities across the U.S. are working to reconnect wildlife habitats across roads, from science to emerging transportation policy. She’ll discuss what’s coming in the 2026 Transportation Act, the potential for a new Wildlife Road Crossing Program, and offer a closer look at the Massachusetts State Wildlife and Transportation Plan (SWTAP), which she helped develop. Dr. Cramer will also explore how this plan can be put into action here in Western Massachusetts.

Ben Goldfarb, award-winning environmental journalist and author, will join us virtually to take us on a journey into the hidden world of road ecology. While roads often fade into the background of our daily lives, wildlife experiences them as forces of disruption and danger. Ben will explore how transportation infrastructure impacts animals and ecosystems, and highlight how we can create a better, safer world for all living beings.

In addition to the talks, this event will feature:

• A hands-on stream table demonstration showing how water, land, and infrastructure interact
• Partner organizations tabling—offering opportunities to learn more, ask questions, and get involved locally

Whether you’re a wildlife lover, transportation enthusiast, or someone who’s just started noticing animals along the roadside, this event offers a look at how smarter road design can create safer, healthier landscapes for both wildlife and people.

DATE: Saturday, April 11

TIME: 9:30 AM to Noon

LOCATION: Berkshire Community College (BCC), 1350 West St, Pittsfield, MA

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Patricia Cramer is the nation's leader in wildlife connectivity across transportation. She is the founder and director of The Wildlife Connectivity Institute. This non-profit focuses on restoring and protecting wildlife connectivity across landscapes and roads. Through science and education, her work helps states identify where to mitigate roads for all kinds of wildlife, and to build the most effective wildlife crossing structures. She has conducted studies for 15 departments of transportation, including MassDOT, and monitored over 100 wildlife crossing structures. She has received awards from the Federal Highway Administration, the Utah Department of Transportation, the Utah Wildlife Society, the Denver Zoo, and others.

Ben Goldfarb is an environmental journalist whose work has appeared in National Geographic, The Atlantic,Smithsonian Magazine, The New Yorker, and many other publications, and has several times been anthologized in the Best American Science & Nature Writing. His most recent book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, was named one of the best books of 2023 by The New York Times and received the Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing and the Banff Book Competition’s Grand Prize. His previous book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, won the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He lives in Colorado with his wife, his daughter, and his dog, Kit — which is, of course, what you call a baby beaver.

Thanks to Berkshire Community College (BCC) for co-sponsoring and partnering with BEAT to make this event possible.

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This free educational event is organized by Berkshire Environmental Action Team. BEAT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit located in Pittsfield, MA. They work with the community to protect the environment for wildlife in support of the natural world that sustains us all. To learn more about BEAT, visit their website at, or contact them at [email protected], (413) 464-9402.

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Host or Publisher Jane Winn at Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)