Meet Scott Poindexter.
You’ll find him somewhere between Oklahoma and Louisiana as he walks the United States to bring attention and awareness to the need for wildlife crossings. As a photographer, conservationist, adventurer and storyteller, Scott’s the kind of person who does things like this.
He has motorcycled through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and North Botswana; spent 10 days observing wild orangutans in the jungle of Aceh, Indonesia; gone canoeing deep into the Peruvian Amazon; meditated in a Buddhist monastery six hours a day in Thailand—not to mention he has summited mountain peaks and scuba dived all over the planet.
Now he’s traversing the United States to make a statement about the tragedy of wildlife being killed on roads and the urgent need for wildlife crossings. Scott has been avoiding highways—for his own safety—yet can still be seen along pretty busy roads with massive trucks whizzing by.
“Now imagine what it’s like for an animal,” he says, of his mission. “They don’t stand a chance.”
Scott is part of a movement towards “ecoengineering” and “road ecology,” in which development of buildings and roadways take into consideration the wildlife and habitat of a locale, and strategically work in sync with the needs of wild animals, such as the need to:
Mark territory and migrate between areas
Find a mate without inbreeding
Have access to plentiful food and water sources
Build a nest or burrow safely, to raise young
Follow migration patterns and teach this to their offspring
With the Walk4WildlifeCrossings project, Scott is sharing his journey and his message on his BoldlyExplore Facebook page as well as on Instagram and LinkedIn. He invites us to follow along, but more importantly, to become aware of and proactive about the need for wildlife crossing structures in the United States.
Find out more about Scott’s activities at BoldlyExplore.com.