The loss of habitat through human development is a well-documented wildlife issue, but there is another threat in the continued expansion of homes, cabins and businesses in previously undeveloped areas.

Wild habitat across the country continues to become surrounded by development, effectively creating wildlife islands that can limit or prevent migration, lead to limited genetic diversity within a population and increase the loss of animals through human conflict (think auto/wildlife collisions).

The idea of protecting corridors for wildlife movement is nothing new, but the movement gained momentum when giant outdoor clothing company — and environmentally cautious — Patagonia entered the arena with its Freedom to Roam initiative.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Rick Ridgeway, vice president for environmental issues at Patagonia, came up with Freedom to Roam in 2007. What began as an attempt to inform the public about the importance of keeping the corridors open eventually grew into the company's own conservation organization.

Freedom to Roam has focused on two unique creatures to help illustrate the issue.

Ridgeway walked along a 200-mile route from Grand Teton National Park to an area near Green River, Wyo., following the migration of pronghorn antelope. Along the way the animals, built for speed and not jumping, encountered obstacles in roads, fences and energy development pads.

Patagonia asked noted wildlife and nature writer Doug Chadwick to get involved. Chadwick, a volunteer for a wolverine research project in Montana's Glacier National Park, produced The Wolverine Way. The book was published by Patagonia and provides an in-depth look at the rough-and-tumble life of the wolverine population in Glacier, particularly a "bad-ass" male known as M3.

"Animals that migrate are obviously impacted when wildlife corridors are shut off with obstacles, but all wildlife needs to be able to wander and disperse," Chadwick said. "Our conservation models are based on something people came up with 100 years ago and are based on setting aside nice reserves with a lot of critters and a lot of scenery. We draw a boundary around them and say 'great, we protected nature' and the wolverine is saying 'I'm sorry, but no national park is big enough.' "

Patagonia joined with other groups already working to keep wild lands connected and invited others to join the effort. The groups include National Wildlife Federation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, World Wildlife Fund, Western Governors' Association, Microsoft, Yellowstone to Yukon, Wildlife Conservation Society, BP America, National Geographic, Walmart, Wildlands Network, Conservation Biology Institute and Defenders of Wildlife.

Big-name corporations and conservation groups may not be the most important partners in Freedom to Roam efforts. The general public, people with a passion for wildlife, will likely be the ones to make the effort a success.

Utahn Kirk Robinson says he first heard of the idea of keeping islands of habitat connected through a sea of humanity roughly 15 years ago. He now serves on a steering committee for the Western Wildway program through the Wildlands Network and as a nonprofit conservation group representative on an advisory group for a pilot program for the Western Governors' Association.

"There are some local and state efforts to provide some connectivity with game crossings and that will tie in with megacorridors down the road," said Robinson, director of the Western Wildlife Conservancy, based in Salt Lake.

There are several annual wildlife movement events each year in Utah. The Great Salt Lake provides an important stop for waterfowl and shorebirds migrating north to south and back again each year. Raptors fly on each side of the Great Salt Lake during their annual migrations.

A smaller migration takes place each year when mule deer on Utah's Paunsaugunt Plateau north of Kanab head south to Arizona's Kaibab Plateau.

But it is the Bear River Corridor in northern Utah that may get the most attention from the public. The Bear River Range runs from the Idaho border east of Logan south to Interstate 84 near Morgan. Robinson said this appears to be a heavily used route.

"There seems to be some major animal movement in that corridor, at least with large carnivores," he said. "Wolves and lynx have been documented using it and wolverines would as well."

A young female wolf with a tracking collar used the route in 2008 when she traveled south from Montana and was later found dead in Colorado. Other wolves spotted in Utah likely also used the Bear River Range as a corridor.

Animals using the Bear River Range have turned east after hitting the interstate and then wandered through the Uinta Mountains with access to the remote stretches of the Utah/Colorado border.

Looking at a map of Utah, Robinson said another corridor could run the length of the state from the Bear River Range south on mostly Forest Service land past Strawberry Reservoir and on to the Wasatch Plateau. The Sevier Plateau is easily reached from there, and the Panunsaugunt Plateau is the final island hopping that would have to be done before hitting the Arizona border.

Carmen Bailey with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is the lead for a Western Governors' Wildlife Council project to organize and analyze wildlife and habitat data for Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona. The work has just started, but it will provide a baseline to help map potential wildlife corridors.

brettp@sltrib.com —

Watch Freedom to Roam video

See a video on Patagonia's Freedom to Roam campaign at http://bit.ly/c0nVlk. —

Become a Witness for Wildlife

Patagonia is looking for help from the general public in its efforts to increase awareness and protect wildlife corridors. For information about becoming a citizen naturalist visit www.witnessforwildlife.org.