"Crossings--How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet" by Ben Goldfarb

Ben Goldfarb’s new book, Crossings—How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, is a reminder that we need to consider the impact of a highway network--not just on the drivers--but on the animals that share the planet.We tend to take that impact for granted, he said. Drivers don’t realize the barrier effect, the noise pollution (“hugely disruptive to migratory songbirds”), or chemical pollution that our roads can create.But Goldfarb charts what he calls a movement: states across the country that now set up wildlife crossings in the form of bridges and underpasses. He praised his native Colorado for overpasses and tunnels that have saved thousands of animals.It isn’t just wildlife that reap the benefits of not becoming roadkill, he said. A reduction in the number of deer and elk that collide with an automobile saves the lives of drivers, too, said Goldfarb.Citing the progress Canada has made with animal crossings at Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, Goldfarb expressed the hope that, as developing nations build their own highways, they might learn from what’s being done now to keep animals out of the road, especially since countries like Myanmar or Kenya are some of the most biodiverse places on Earth.“We have about 100 ocelots left in this country—all in south Texas. Traffic accounts for a 40 percent mortality rate in these animals,” he said.When precautions are taken and human understanding is involved, nature can be resilient, said Goldfarb, noting the rise of the beaver in this country. “We killed millions of beavers with the fur trade early in this country’s history. We dried out the landscape,” he said.Now that the beaver is recognized as an attribute to the environment, creating wetlands with its dams that benefit creatures of all kinds, they’re making a comeback, said Goldfarb.After attending a 2014 beaver workshop in Seattle, Wash. where scientists reeled off the many contributions beavers make to the land, Goldfarb said he became a believer.In 2018, he published, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. In that book, Goldfarb said he took California, a state with serious water issues, to task for failing to support the beaver population. “Now, seven years later, California is one of the leaders when it comes to supporting the beaver. We can make progress,” he said.When I suggested Goldfarb write a children’s book on the many benefits of the beaver, he said several books for young readers lauding the beaver are already available. “I’ll get a plug in for Kristen Tracy’s When Beavers Flew, “ he said, citing the true story of the relocation of beavers in Idaho in the 1940s.Goldfarb plans to stay near the water for his next project, a book on the complexities of fish migration.