Intimate Bureaucracies: Roadkill, Policy, and Fieldwork on the Shoulder

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, wildlife biologists and transportation planners have worked with environmental groups and state and tribal governments to mitigate the effects of human transportation arteries on animal habitats and movements. This paper draws connections between this growing field of road ecology and feminist science studies in order to accomplish two things. First, it aims to highlight the often unacknowledged roots that the interdisciplinary field of animal studies has in feminist theory. Second, it seeks to contribute to conversations in the humanities and social sciences on roadkill and on wildlife biology by steering us into a world of practice that foregrounds mundane details. I approach this topic through interdisciplinary methods, including interviews with tribal and state wildlife biologists and participation in fieldwork on a western painted turtle tagging project. Although engaging in science and formulating policy are often understandably regarded by nonspecialists as practices that distance observers from their topic, in the world of roadkill prevention, I argue that the opposite is the case. What I call “intimate bureaucracies” are formed: arrangements of papers, policies, and people that bring a world of counting, and accountability, into being.

All‐in‐one energy harvesting system with triboelectric and thermoelectric hybrid generator and Au nanoflower supercapacitor for a light stimulation to the wildlife

“…Especially, the nocturnal animals inevitably cross the road for their feeding activity and this activity can cause a car accident. Furthermore, human injury and property damages can occur via roadkill 3 . To mitigate this accident, there was an examination of wildlife warning signs that are most likely to respond to drivers 4 and ecological paths were developed for helping animals 5 who are crossing the road with regarding the roadkill abundant boundaries 6 .…”

“…Furthermore, human injury and property damages can occur via roadkill. 3 To mitigate this accident, there was an examination of wildlife warning signs that are most likely to respond to drivers 4 and ecological paths were developed for helping animals 5 who are crossing the road with regarding the roadkill abundant boundaries. 6 However, almost all solutions for preventing the roadkill were designed to either warn the driver of the sudden appearance of an animal or bypass the animal.…”