On The Cover | Neighbors of Park City Magazine
- Kelsey Miklavcic
- Oct 5
- 1 min read
OCTOBER 2025
CALL OF THE WILD
Save People Save Wildlife uses grassroots solutions to tackle vehicle wildlife collisions in summit county.
IN 2015, PARK CITY RESIDENT ERIN FERGUSON AND HER HUSBAND WERE LIVING IN JEREMY RANCH AND TRAVELING BACK AND FORTH TO SALT LAKE CITY FOR WORK. WHILE GRATEFUL FOR THEIR PARK CITY LIFESTYLE, THEY WERE BECOMING MORE AND MORE CONCERNED BY THE GROWING NUMBER OF DEAD ANIMALS ON INTERSTATE 80. The larger animals (elk, mule deer, and moose) that were unable to safely cross the busy interstate, provided a very visible and impactful reminder of how expanding human populations affect wildlife in a mountain community.
A NONPROFIT WITH A MISSION
Erin, along with Jeremy Ranch resident Ralph Hottinger and a few concerned neighbors, mobilized and formed Save People Save Wildlife (SPSW), a 501 c3 nonprofit whose mission is to research, address, and initiate solutions to mitigate the increasingly high number of collisions between vehicles and wildlife along Summit County's roadways by engaging in extensive advocacy efforts and collaborations with community leaders and state and local agencies.
In 2016, SPSW set its sights on Interstate 80, a barrier to wildlife searching for food, water, mates, and habitat on either side of the roadway. At the time, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was installing barricades east and west bound near Parley's Summit and, according to Erin, as a safety measure to protect the newly built Weilenmann school from the effect of potential vehicle accidents on the highway.
