In an eloquent and heartfelt prose, Morgan Marks of Montanans for Safe Wildlife Passage speaks to the challenges and rewards of working in conservation. This interview is brimming with wisdom and inspiration—Morgan’s (com)passion is contagious.
Read on to learn more about why wildlife passages are essential for human safety and habitat conservation, ways to find joy in a world of uncertainty, and how unlikely partnerships align to create positive impacts.
Morgan Marks of Montanans for Safe Wildlife Passage
Q: What issue(s) are you seeking to solve, and in what ways are you working to solve them?
Montanans for Safe Wildlife Passage (MSWP) is a group of committed and dedicated folks working together to find collaborative solutions to support wildlife connectivity and migrations by working to protect people and wildlife on Montana’s roadways, now and forever. MSWP formed in 2011 and was originally formed by individuals and organizations to work on improving passage for wildlife and aquatic species through a variety of methods including research, monitoring, policy work, mapping and on-the-ground projects.
MSWP is advocating for innovative solutions to maintain habitat connectivity and provide safe passage for people, fish and wildlife. The work is about ensuring that there are less wildlife vehicle collisions, more connected habitats, that human safety is prioritized as well as wildlife, and that education and outreach efforts are being done about wildlife connectivity and migrations to bring people into this work because these issues impact everyone.
One way advocacy is occurring is through relationships and partnerships in the way of collaboration through MSWP. Convening and setting aside intentional time to visit, ask questions, learn and understand the work of many organizations in Montana that are gaining momentum and traction on these challenges and opportunities is crucial. Relationships drive work and there are many good folks in this space doing good things because of relations between organizations and relations with state agencies such as Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks and Montana Department of Transportation.
Focusing on advancing wildlife crossing projects through science-based policies on Montana roadways is currently the priority, along with raising the public’s awareness of wildlife connectivity and migration challenges through sharing solutions and educating folks about what those solutions could look like. Wildlife friendly fencing practices, pairing fencing with wildlife crossing structures in the form of overpasses or underpasses and implementing wildlife crossing structures in places identified as wildlife migration corridors or migration routes and/or high motor vehicle and wildlife collisions are tried and proven solutions.
Photo by Kit Fischer
Q: What do you find most challenging in your work? Q: What do you find most rewarding?
Years ago, during an AmeriCorps service term, I learned about the stages of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning, Bruce Tuckman’s developmental sequence for working in teams, and these ideas and thoughts have stuck with me because in my experiences working with other people, the theories have proven true. Personally, I think the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of work in the conservation space in general are the relations aspect of this work, and recognizing that through connections, there are many opportunities and challenges, and sometimes competing priorities between people and organizations.
It’s a tough space to be in at times - conservation - because there are mindsets that exist where the root is one of competition, but what I am finding is that more often than not when people come together, really listen to one another, and spend intentional time around shared priorities and alignment, there is a culture of abundance that exists if we each choose to allow that and see our relationships as catalysts for the work. I’ve always believed that even though conflict may feel tough, seemingly inevitable, at times disheartening and exhausting, it’s also a driver of good work, can be transformative, and is often paramount for people to move forward together.
This isn’t to say that conflict is necessary because it definitely isn’t. Thankfully, MSWP is a coalition of folks communicating with one another to drive solutions at a statewide level around wildlife connectivity and migrations, working to build bridges in this space, literally and figuratively.
Q: What do you wish people knew more about the issue(s) you seek to solve?
I wish people realized the real value in wildlife crossings and structures, and how one structure placed appropriately could save countless human and animal lives. I wish people realized that every expired and dead creature we see along the roadway didn’t have to die, and that the metrics around human mortality through wildlife vehicle collisions could be nearly eliminated if we choose to look at the science and work with nature instead of against her through allowing natural processes to function and be sustained.
For example, there are sections of roadway in Montana where people know wildlife exist and are often seen along the roadway or dead, and if we chose to see this as problematic and not common place, we could then start there, with awareness, caring, and compassion, and work to find solutions together, to make roads safer for both human beings and wildlife. Just because the world has evolved in some ways does not mean we cannot choose to go back and try again. We can, we should, and I think we must.
Q: How can people support your work?
Get involved - in whatever way you have the capacity and want to become engaged. Whether that’s through paying closer attention and choosing to lean in to this information and issues around wildlife connectivity and migrations, making a donation to MSWP, signing up to stay informed and kept abreast of information, telling another person about these issues and sharing your thoughts, or starting/finding a local group focused on these issues in your community — there are many ways to show your support and give whether it’s of your time, financially or otherwise.
Q: How do you create joy and hope in your life during the ecological crisis?
Oof! What a fantastic question. I believe that joy is all around me if I choose to see it.
When I go down the rabbit hole of doom and seemingly spin out from disappointment, grief and hopelessness with the state of the world, I open my eyes a little wider, make myself go outside, and take time to remember what’s good, true, and that none of us can move the boulder as far as all of us. I get curious and try to live my life through walking through the world in this way, with a sense of curiosity. With that, I’ve learned the importance of my voice, my vote and when to raise my voice and speak out in an effort to hold those elected and in power accountable. For me, hope comes from believing that humans can change and become better, and learning from mistakes we’ve made as a collective.
I used to want to be Oprah, in the way that she impacts so many people, gives away free stuff, and has a reach beyond most humans’ comprehension. I think in my own ways, I tried, and then somewhere along the way, I realized that that actually isn’t what I want. I want the cashier at the post office to remember my face, to know my local politicians and be able to call them directly and sit down for coffee, to know my neighbor’s names, to associate people’s dogs with their respective humans, to know the stories of my family and ancestry, and so many other localized and personal, for me - more meaningful desires and goals. I smile at people, give a wave when driving, let people pull out in front of me if I’m not in a rush (and if I am, sorry!) and try to create simple moments of joy through giving, in whatever way I’m able. When I’m low or not in a positive mood, I’m always humbled when another person takes one simple action like what I just shared because that is what hope looks like in practice - the seemingly simple connections between us.
I’m really big on service so finding spaces where I can exert my power and influence to create (hopefully) positive change has become crucial to my joy. I’m on two boards of directors, Missouri River Open Lands Preservation and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, am a mentor with the Red Ants Pants Girls Leadership Program, and am hell bent on continuing to be mindful that I am my best self through giving, as well as through receiving.
The road now and all the ones ahead may not be easy but I think it’s far better and more rewarding to be aware and continue to hope through taking action and advocating for accountability instead of allowing ignorance and giving up — and that is a choice, I think. To hope through it all, and not just hope, but do something tangible with that hope. Actions matter. It all matters.