» Utah Traffic Cone Off Endangered Species List

SPRINGVILLE—Managers of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have declared that population sizes of the Utah traffic cone have increased; finally taking the cone off the endangered species list.

“We are very excited to see that our scheduled release program has increased their population size,” Dallin Jacobsen, one of the employees of the Division. “It’s great to see it flourish, especially in well developed areas.”

Wildlife resource employee participates in the scheduled release program of an adult traffic cone, or traffic barrier. — Wildlife resource employees participate in the scheduled release program of an adult traffic cone, or traffic “barrier”.

Some worried that the Utah traffic cone could have been extinct were it not for the construction of a temporary habitat for the traffic cones on Interstate 15.

“Before 2010, we were trying our very best to keep the cones from dying out,” said Allen Boswell, chairperson of the government agency. “We were worried that there wouldn’t be any traffic cones left for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to see.”

Since the construction began in April 2010, the Utah traffic cone, transitus pyramidis, has seen a large number of their species migrate from other wildlife refuges to Salt Lake and Utah counties. However, not all residents and visitors are thrilled with the traffic cone migration.

Wildlife resources employees watch on as traffic cones cross the street.

Mark Johnson, a visitor to BYU campus during April graduation commented, “They just look so unnatural here. I know they’re endangered, but I’m afraid they will displace other populations, like BYU students.”

Traffic cones can be seen in many different places around Utah but especially in Provo as the Division of Wildlife Resources teams up with city officials to keep Provo permanently under construction.

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