In her children’s book, Frances Figart writes about two best friends, a bear and a deer, who grow up in the Great Smoky Mountains listening to stories about a time their families could move freely — before their home was bisected by Interstate 40.
“Many animals have died on the Human Highway, trying to follow the ancient trails. The story is fiction, but it is based on the real-life problem,” Figart says of her book, “A Search for Safe Passage.”
“Roads are one of the largest causes of habitat fragmentation,” she says.
In addition to writing books, Figart is creative director for Great Smoky Mountains Association, one of seven organizations that make up the Safe Passage Fund Coalition, a group helping raise money for wildlife crossings in the Smokies region.
Their effort is currently focused on the I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project, which seeks to improve wildlife connectivity — animals’ ability to move freely from place to place — along a 28-mile stretch of interstate that joins Tennessee and North Carolina.