An ambitious project to build Oregon’s largest series of wildlife overpasses has reached a significant funding milestone. More than $1 million has so far been raised for the crossings, planned for a busy stretch of U.S. Highway 20 north of Sisters.

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board recently awarded $688,000 for the project, said Jeremy Austin, wildlands and water program director for Central Oregon LandWatch, the nonprofit that is coordinating funding for the project.

“The OWEB funding allowed us to meet our non-federal match goal of $852,000. It put us over the goal mark,” Austin said.

Earlier funding from other sources — including The Roundhouse Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Oregon Hunters Association and others — puts total cash for the project in excess of $1 million.

The project to build a set of wildlife passages between Sisters and Suttle Lake, now in its third year, is being coordinated by Bend-based Central Oregon LandWatch and the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. The four overcrossings are planned to be within five miles of each other, the first series of wildlife overcrossings in the state.

If the match funding is approved, around $2.6 million can be raised from federal sources, Austin said. That can be added to existing funds to be put into a pot of $3.4 needed for the engineering, design and planning for the four crossings, the second phase of the project.

Austin anticipates that approval for funding will be complete later this year. Phase Two is expected to be completed by 2026. Funding will continue throughout the process as the organizers prepare for construction, expected to cost $58 million in 2027 dollars.

Highway 20 bisects a major migratory corridor for both elk and mule deer that move from wintering grounds near Lake Billy Chinook to higher elevation areas in the Deschutes National Forest near Mount Washington. Along the way they pass the base of Black Butte and Highway 20.

The intersection of vehicles and wildlife in the area kills around 350 to 600 mule deer and elk annually.

Despite federal funding cuts by the Trump administration, organizers say funding can still be available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 during the Biden administration.

“We recognize there’s a great deal of uncertainty around federal funding overall,” said Austin.

“But we’ve really been optimistic that the funding for this work will continue as wildlife crossings have a long history of bipartisan support at the federal level, including under the past two administrations.”

The project will be one of Oregon’s largest wildlife crossing projects. A planned single-span wildlife crossing along I-5 in southern Oregon —  within the Mariposa Preserve of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument — is expected to cost roughly $33 million.

Agencies, businesses, or individuals interested in contributing to this project can contact the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. Individuals interested in contributing can do so online at bit.ly/Donate2Bend2Suttle.