The Los Angeles area is known for its automotive tradition; we’ve famously poor public transit, famously congested roads, and famously stunning roads full of famously stunning folks driving famously stunning automobiles. Previous to its colonization, although, the area was naturally stunning, peppered with Indigenous tribes who coexisted with the assorted native wildlife in one of many largest and most vital 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. Not too long ago, 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, big 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 most important wildlife crossing on the planet, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills. The wildlife crossing will permit animals to cross over one of many busiest roadways on the planet that sees round 300,000 vacationers day by day, and join the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains. The venture was delayed by a few yr because of heavy rains in 2022 and 2023, and is now slated for completion towards the top of 2026.
It is huge
The wildlife crossing is positioned alongside U.S. Route 101 on the Liberty Canyon Street exit in Agoura Hills, and as soon as accomplished the primary construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing shall be in regards to the measurement of a soccer area, or 10-to-12 acres in whole. It spans throughout eight lanes of visitors and two breakdown lanes on the 101 Freeway, in addition to a second part that can go over the 2 lanes of Agoura Street. The placement was decided for a lot of causes, together with a 1987 research which recognized the stretch between Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills as one in all three key choke factors for protected animal passageways.
Part 2 of the venture is ready to start quickly, and can embody a short lived closure of Agoura Street so the roadway might be coated with a tunnel and soil collected from the Malibu Lake space. The whole crossing is projected to be accomplished towards the top of 2026, with the purpose of reconnecting all the ecosystem for each wildlife to unravel for genetic isolation and forestall the extinction of a mountain lion inhabitants. You may comply with 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 one in all two biodiversity hotspots within the continental U.S. which are dwelling to over 1,000 plant species in 26 distinct pure communities. Native species embody bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, 400 species of birds, and 35 species of reptiles and amphibians. The area can also 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 known 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 Avenue Journal, Los Angeles Instances, Nationwide Geographic, BBC World Information, and a number of other extra shops earlier than he was hit by a automotive and euthanized because of head trauma in late 2022.
