The Los Angeles area is legendary for its automobile tradition; now we have famously poor public transit, famously congested roads, and famously lovely roads crammed with famously lovely folks driving famously lovely vehicles. Previous to its colonization, although, the area was naturally lovely, peppered with Indigenous tribes who coexisted with the assorted native natural world in one of many largest and most important examples of Mediterranean-type ecosystems on the planet, the Santa Monica Mountains. As soon as all that native magnificence was sufficiently steamrolled and paved over, the area’s fragile ecosystem and endangered wildlife confronted and continues to face habitat shrinkage and habitat loss, even genetic isolation. Just lately, employees started laying the primary of the 6,000 cubic yards of specifically manufactured soil on the crossing and can quickly start seeding the soil and planting native shrubs and perennials together with golden yarrow, California poppies, large wildrye, and Santa Barbara milk vetch to recreate the native habitat and assist different endangered species just like the Palos Verdes blue butterfly.
Three years in the past on Earth Day in 2022, the area started taking steps to revive these habitats by beginning building on the biggest wildlife crossing on the planet, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills. The wildlife crossing will enable animals to cross over one of many busiest roadways on the planet that sees round 300,000 vacationers each day, and join the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains. The mission was delayed by a couple of 12 months as a consequence of heavy rains in 2022 and 2023, and is now slated for completion towards the top of 2026.
It is large
The wildlife crossing is positioned alongside U.S. Route 101 on the Liberty Canyon Highway exit in Agoura Hills, and as soon as accomplished the primary construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will probably be in regards to the dimension of a soccer area, or 10-to-12 acres in whole. It spans throughout eight lanes of site visitors and two breakdown lanes on the 101 Freeway, in addition to a second part that may move over the 2 lanes of Agoura Highway. The situation was decided for a lot of causes, together with a 1987 research which recognized the stretch between Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills as certainly one of three key choke factors for protected animal passageways.
Section 2 of the mission is ready to start quickly, and can embrace a brief closure of Agoura Highway so the roadway might be coated with a tunnel and soil collected from the Malibu Lake space. Your entire crossing is projected to be accomplished towards the top of 2026, with the objective of reconnecting your entire ecosystem for each natural world to unravel for genetic isolation and forestall the extinction of a mountain lion inhabitants. You’ll be able to observe together with progress and see real-time webcam feeds on the 101 Wildlife Crossing web site.
Why is Caltrans spending $94 million on a wildlife bridge?
The Santa Monica Mountains are certainly one of two biodiversity hotspots within the continental U.S. which can be dwelling to over 1,000 plant species in 26 distinct pure communities. Native species embrace bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, 400 species of birds, and 35 species of reptiles and amphibians. The area can be dwelling to greater than 50 endangered or threatened species of vegetation and animals, which is among the many highest concentrations of uncommon species within the U.S.
The world had a love affair with the late mountain lion referred to as P-22, who was the primary mountain lion to be sighted in Griffith Park in a few years, and solely made it there by miraculously crossing two of the busiest freeways within the nation. P-22 is the face of the #SaveLACougars marketing campaign, which regardless of the assorted meanings of the identify focuses completely on mountain lions, and is credited with fueling a brand new conservation motion. P-22 gained followers throughout the globe, and his story was featured in The New Yorker, Wall Road Journal, Los Angeles Occasions, Nationwide Geographic, BBC World Information, and a number of other extra shops earlier than he was hit by a automobile and euthanized as a consequence of head trauma in late 2022.
