Mapping the spaghetti highways of the West
Lately, Matthew Kauffman has been thinking a lot about spaghetti — specifically, wildlife spaghetti lines.
Kauffman, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey, has been working along with many tribal and state officials over the last several years to create new maps that chart wildlife. They want to see where the deer, elk, and pronghorn highways are that run throughout America’s Western states.
Such wandering lines on a map represent individual animal trails, and appear a lot like spaghetti.
Kauffman says it’s where those trails come together, that is really interesting.
“We think of it as sort of like a road system," Kauffman said. "We are trying to future out what the 'interstates' that the migratory ungulates are using. That most of the animals are using.”
Kauffman says it’s those wildlife interstates — or high-use corridors — that are the most important for the population to keep open and functional.
