{"id":1736,"date":"2016-10-20T12:33:03","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T19:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/?p=1736"},"modified":"2022-07-30T18:09:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T01:09:50","slug":"to-help-cougars-cross-busy-101-freeway-annenberg-foundation-promises-to-match-donations-for-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/2016\/10\/20\/to-help-cougars-cross-busy-101-freeway-annenberg-foundation-promises-to-match-donations-for-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"To help cougars cross busy 101 Freeway, Annenberg Foundation promises to match donations for bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

A push to raise funds for a wildlife overpass<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source of this article: The Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2016<\/a><\/p>\n

Building a cougar crossing over one of Southern California\u2019s busiest freeways will cost tens of millions of dollars \u2014 funding that is unlikely to come any time soon from the state\u2019s transportation kitty.<\/p>\n

\"National

National Park Service researchers discovered two litters of mountain lion kittens in the eastern Santa Susana Mountains in June 2016. A total of five kittens, three females and two males, were ear-tagged and returned to their respective dens.<\/p><\/div>\n

So advocates have\u00a0launched\u00a0a campaign to raise private donations for a span over the 10-lane 101 Freeway<\/a> in Agoura Hills that would provide safe passage to mountain lions and other wildlife moving between the Santa Monica Mountains and inland habitat.<\/p>\n

The effort got a jump-start from the Annenberg Foundation on Wednesday when the philanthropy announced a challenge grant that will match every dollar,\u00a0up to $1 million total, donated by other foundations.<\/p>\n

Although best known for its education and arts funding, the foundation has supported animal-protection causes around the world and views the wildlife crossing as a way to improve the overall ecosystem, said foundation Executive Director Cinny Kennard.<\/p>\n

The roughly 15 mountain lions that live in the Santa Monica range desperately need new blood. Isolated by freeways and urban development, adults are breeding with close relatives and losing the genetic diversity necessary for population survival.<\/p>\n

A recent study by UCLA and National Park Service scientists concluded that the inbreeding leaves the local cougar population at risk of extinction<\/a> within the next 50 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to think of Los Angeles as a concrete jungle. The truth is, we\u2019re home to one of the most richly diverse ecosystems in the entire world,\u201d Annenberg President Wallis Annenberg said in a statement. \u201cWe need to do more to protect our mountain lion population, to help them breed and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2015 Caltrans report presented two alternatives for the 101 crossing, which would rise immediately west of Liberty Canyon Road.<\/p>\n

A bridge that\u2019s\u00a0165 feet\u00a0wide and 200 feet\u00a0long would cost $30 million to\u00a0$35 million. A longer span over the freeway and Agoura Road\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u00a0the choice of wildlife advocates \u2014\u00a0would cost $50 million to $60 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a capital campaign, just like a hospital,\u201d said Molly Judge, the West Coast philanthropy director for the National Wildlife Federation, which is helping spearhead the drive for public and private funding.<\/p>\n

Given California\u2019s highway construction backlog, Judge said proponents are seeking state conservation money, rather than transportation funds. Last year, they obtained a $1-million grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy.<\/p>\n

Backers want to raise $10 million from public and private sources by the end of next year to advance the project, which they hope to build\u00a0by 2021.<\/p>\n

The crossing would not help Southern California\u2019s most celebrated mountain lion, P-22, who took up residency in Los Angeles\u2019 Griffith Park after managing to cross not only the 101 Freeway but the 405 Freeway as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s accomplished is pretty powerful,\u201d Judge said. \u201cHe\u2019s become a figurehead for the movement to coexist with wildlife and to protect habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

To call attention to the bridge initiative, which is part of the federation\u2019s #SaveLACougars campaign, a team of advocates, scientists and government officials on Wednesday are beginning a four-day, 40-mile walk that will retrace P-22\u2019s likely journey from the Santa Monicas to Griffith Park. The starting point is the site of the proposed cougar crossing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A push to raise funds for a wildlife overpass Source of this article: The Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2016 Building a cougar crossing over one of Southern California\u2019s busiest freeways will cost tens of millions of dollars \u2014 funding that is unlikely to come any time soon from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,27,22,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-budget-and-spending","category-mountain-lions","category-southern-california","category-wildlife-bridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1736"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3494,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions\/3494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}