The U.S. 550 Wildlife Crossings Project is a continuation of on-going efforts and commitment to reduce Wildlife Vehicle Collisions (WVC) and enhance habitat connectivity in New Mexico. Previous legislative efforts prioritized funding and actions to reduce WVCs and include a statewide study to identify and quantify WVC hotspots. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law the New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Act (Senate Bill 228) in 2019 which mandated the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) to develop a Wildlife Corridors Action Plan (Action Plan). The Action Plan identified and prioritized important areas for wildlife movement and developed a list of priority projects for building wildlife crossing structures to better connect habitats, facilitate safe animal movement across major highways, and protect the traveling public from collisions with wildlife. Development of the Action Plan commenced in 2019 as a cooperative effort led by the NMDOT and NMDGF and involved collaboration with other research and resource management entities including, but not limited to the U.S. Forest Service, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, Jicarilla Apache Nation, Mescalero Apache Tribe, and Navajo Nation. The Action Plan was completed in June of 2022.

The Action Plan identified U.S. Highway 550 north of Cuba as the highest priority WVC hotspot in New Mexico. Conceptual strategies were developed for addressing this area. The overall purpose of the current project, the U.S. 550 Wildlife Crossing Project, is to reduce WVCs and enhance wildlife habitat connectivity primarily for elk (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in northwestern New Mexico.