Wildlife Collision Prevention Program

Wildlife Collision Prevention program campaign banner. Text reads: Give $5 when registering your vehicle online or in person. Safe Roads. Wild Routes.

What is the Wildlife Collision Prevention Program?

The Wildlife Collision Prevention program provides the opportunity for Coloradans to give $5 on annual vehicle registrations. The revenue generated will fund wildlife safety projects that save both animal and human lives.

Wildlife safety projects establish safe wildlife crossings and improve habitat and migration routes along Colorado’s state highways. The Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Wildlife Transportation Alliance work together to design and build these wildlife safety projects in areas that have a high potential for wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Colorado Wildlife Crossings Interactive Map

How Wildlife Safety Projects Work

A busy highway can be a challenge for wildlife to cross and can endanger wildlife and people. Wildlife safety projects construct a variety of infrastructure features that help animals find their way safely across the road.

How We Help Wildlife Cross Highways Safely

Underpasses & Overpasses

Bridge-like overpasses or tunnel-like underpasses mimic the natural landscape and let animals cross highways safely

Wildlife Fencing

Tall, specialized fences guide animals away from traffic and toward safe crossing zones

Wildlife Guards

Similar to a cattle guards, but much wider and are placed across driveways or road intersections to prevent wildlife from entering onto the fenced highway

Jumpouts

Dirt ramps enable wildlife to escape the highway if they become trapped on the roadway between wildlife fencing

Wildlife Safety Projects Make a Big Difference

Crash Prevention

Encountering wildlife on the road is one of the top causes of vehicle crashes in Colorado. With more than 4,000 animal collisions reported on our state's highways annually, the danger is real. Wildlife safety projects can reduce collisions by 90%. This innovative infrastructure improves road safety, traffic, and wildlife habitat connectivity. When you say "yes" to the optional $5 Wildlife Collision Prevention fee on your annual vehicle registration, you are helping build wildlife crossings that prevent crashes and save lives, keeping both animals and drivers safe.

Two bighorn goats crossing the US 550 highways during winter time. — Encountering wildlife on the road is one of the top causes of vehicle crashes in Colorado.

Cost Savings

A vehicle crash with a deer or elk can cost $19,000 to $110,000. Preventing these collisions saves on costs associated with property damage, injuries, increased insurance premiums and wildlife loss. Wildlife safety projects can prevent these expensive and dangerous crashes. When you say "yes" to the optional $5 Wildlife Collision Prevention fee on your annual vehicle registration, you are investing in infrastructure that saves millions of dollars each year by preventing highway crashes in Colorado.

A vehicle with dented engine hood and cracked windshield after a collision with wildlife on CO 128 near Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge — A vehicle crash with a deer, elk or moose and cost a car owner thousands of dollars in damage.

Protecting and Connecting Wildlife Habitats

Home to the largest elk population in the world, Colorado has no shortage of wildlife. But roads cut through the habitats that wildlife need to move through daily and seasonally to find food, water and mates. Building wildlife safety projects can reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, protecting countless wild animals. When you say "yes" to the optional $5 Wildlife Collision Prevention fee on your annual vehicle registration, you are investing in innovative highway safety structures that save animals.

Mule deer use an overpass to reach their natural habitat on both sides of US 160 between Durango and Pagosa Springs.

Senate Bill-141 (SB-141) Background

In 2026, the Colorado Legislature passed SB-141, the Wildlife Collision Prevention Program. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2027, SB-141 implements an optional $5 fee when registering vehicles. The fee is collected at the time of registration of a passenger motor vehicle, light-weight truck, motorcycle, or recreational vehicle. An individual may decline to pay the fee when registering their vehicle, and nonpayment of the fee does not affect the individual's ability to register the motor vehicle. The optional fee will fund wildlife safety projects that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee? How much does it cost?

The Wildlife Collision Prevention fee was passed by the Colorado legislature in 2026 (SB26-141). The Wildlife Collision Prevention fee of $5 will be included in your annual vehicle registration through the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), unless it is declined. The funds collected will be used for wildlife safety projects on state highways and interstates and improvements to wildlife habitat and connectivity.

An individual may decline to pay the fee when registering their vehicle, and nonpayment of the fee does not affect the individual's ability to register the motor vehicle.

When does the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee begin?

Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, the optional Wildlife Collision Prevention fee will be offered when you register your vehicle online or in person at a DMV office.

How will the funds collected from Wildlife Collision Prevention fee be used?

The Wildlife Collision Prevention fee will provide reliable, dedicated funding to build wildlife safety projects and protect connected habitats along state highways and interstates. Wildlife safety projects include overpasses, underpasses and fencing that significantly reduce vehicle vs. wildlife crashes.

75% of funds are used to construction wildlife safety projects
25% of funds are used for wildlife habitat and connectivity improvement

What are the benefits of contributing my $5?

Reasons to give $5 Safety:

Wildlife-vehicle collisions are reduced by 90%, preventing injuries and saving lives
Proven Design: Wildlife safety projects are highly effective, and just one system (overpasses, underpasses and fencing) prevents thousands of collisions
Cost Savings: Wildlife safety projects reduce unexpected expenses associated with vehicle damages, injuries and insurance claims
Protect Wildlife: Wildlife safety projects improve wildlife movement, migration and habitat.
Make a Difference: Your contribution will help build wildlife crossings and fencing on Colorado highways and interstates

Where do I go to support the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee?

The Wildlife Collision Prevention fee option is only available when you register your vehicle online or in person at a DMV office. The option is not currently available when you renew registrations at kiosks or by mail.

How do I decline the $5 charge from my registration total?

Coloradans will have the option to decline the fee while registering or renewing their vehicle.

If in person, tell the county clerk you’re declining the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee
If online, there will be a prompt during the transaction asking if you want to support the Wildlife Collision Prevention fund. Select “No” to decline paying the annual $5 fee

Will I be asked to contribute $5 to the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee every year?

Yes, if registering vehicles online or in person you will be asked each year if you choose to contribute.

An individual may decline to pay the fee when registering their vehicle, and nonpayment of the fee does not affect the individual's ability to register the motor vehicle.

I registered or renewed my vehicle and didn’t opt-out by mistake. Who can I contact for a refund?

Refunds for contributing to the annual $5 Wildlife Collision Prevention fee by mistake cannot be voided (SB26-141). Once an individual opts to pay the collision prevention fee and the fee is collected, the fee cannot be refunded.

I have multiple vehicles. Will the fee be applied for each vehicle registration?

Yes, the Wildlife Collision Prevention fee, paid during your annual vehicle registration with the DMV, is linked to each specific vehicle being registered.

How can I find out more about registering my vehicle in Colorado?

Learn more about the Division of Motor Vehicles at: dmv.colorado.gov

Where can I find more information about the optional Wildlife Collision Prevention fee?

Learn more at the Colorado Department of Transportation's website: codot.gov/wildlife