Wildlife

Promoting and protecting interconnectivity of habitats is a primary goal of Bend in the Bow. Existing stands of riverine forest provide significant habitat at the Inglewood Sanctuary and Pearce Estate Park. Bend in the Bow will implement a Wildlife Mobility Corridor to connect the two existing patches. This is meant to encourage wildlife migration along the river, most of which occurs at night. Plant types, wildlife, habitat, path configurations and materials, light levels, and activity types and times of occurrence will be further studied as the Corridor is designed in detail.

A particularly challenging area of the Wildlife Mobility Corridor occurs at its intersection with Blackfoot Trail. Abutments of the Cushing Bridge create a pinch point in the passage under the bridge. Exacerbating this problem, much of the already narrow space is occupied by a concrete pathway, a surface not favored by wildlife. Further impact to this area will occur when a new Bus Rapid Transit bridge is built adjacent to Cushing Bridge. To mitigate these various impacts, Bend in the Bow is proposing to build the river bank out here and use the extra width to create the type of natural ground that animals like to traverse.

A second proposal for this area is to add screens, dense plantings, and coarse paving to the embankments flanking the Blackfoot Trail, to prevent deer and other wildlife from trying to cross over the road rather than under it.

Existing plantings in the Wildlife Mobility Corridor, and other parts of Bend in the Bow, will be enhanced to create stronger habitat conditions. A combination of trees, shrubs, and grasses will be planted along the river to reduce bank erosion, enhance wildlife and promote biodiversity.

NOTE: The icons on this map denote general and approximate locations of wildlife species at Bend in the Bow, as derived from books, wildlife sighting maps at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary maintained by volunteers, tours with wildlife biologists, and observation by the art planners. This is not a comprehensive list and is always evolving.