A wildlife bridge in Siskiyou County, California, has already seen its first users—a trio of mule deer—despite being incomplete. This $20 million project, the first wildlife crossing over a major highway in the state, aims to enhance driver safety and decrease wildlife mortality during migration. Fraser Shilling, director of the Road Ecology Center at the University of California, Davis, noted that the bridge serves as a learning opportunity for improving future wildlife crossings. While the bridge is ready for use, final touches on the fencing are needed to guide animals toward it. According to a report co-authored by Shilling, vehicle collisions with wildlife are a significant issue, with nearly 50,000 mule deer killed each year in California. The new bridge addresses this problem, as previous data indicated that 50 deer and 16 elk died at the crossing site between 2015 and 2020. Caltrans has plans for additional wildlife crossings, including the Wallis Annenberg crossing, which will be the largest in the world upon completion.