Photo by: Living Habitats / National Wildlife Federation
Recording $ 25 million call grant from Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation was just transferred National Wildlife Federation #SaveLACougars Wildlife Crossing Construction Campaign Angels region. A grant for this landmark project will help them take their first steps this year.
Wildlife crossing in Liberty Canyon via 101 Freeway – which will be the largest wildlife crossing in the world – will reunite a long-fragmented ecosystem, a hotspot of biodiversity, and help protect the endangered mountain lion population and other wildlife species that cause Santa monica mountains house.
It will be the first urban crossing of this magnitude – 210 feet over ten lanes of highway and sidewalk, as well as an access road – and the first wildlife crossing to be heavily funded by private donations and government support.
IN #SaveLACougars The Crossing Campaign will serve as a model for wildlife conservation efforts in cities around the world. Thanks to this donation, the campaign grew by more than $ 44 million today, and it is necessary to provide an estimated 35 million dollars unblock Annenberg Challenge Grant and start in November.
“This incredible environmental grant from Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation – the largest ever awarded by the National Wildlife Federation – brings us closer to unlocking new opportunities this year,” said Colleen O’Mara, president and CEO of National Wildlife wildlife federations, in a statement. “Grant Wallis Annenberg will protect this global biodiversity hotspot – recognized as one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots worldwide – and ensure that iconic California mountain lions and other wildlife can find the food and helpers they need to survive by reuniting the Santa Mountains. Monica and Simi. Hills and Beyond. “
“Thanks also to the visionary leadership of fearless Beth Pratt, as well as to all the donors who are bringing this transformative project to life,” said O’Mara.
“There is a reason I wanted to support this transition and solve this problem: we need to go beyond mere conservation, to a kind of rejuvenation of the environment,” said Wallis Annenberg, chairman, president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation. “Wildlife crossings are very effective in this – restoring ecosystems that have been fragmented and disrupted. This is a way of saying that there are solutions to our deepest environmental problems, and this is the kind of fresh new thinking that will lead us to this. For me, this is an important local and regional initiative, even a model of the changes that we need around the world. I am very proud that California is at the forefront of this effort and that our foundation can be part of it too. We hope that the strong role of the state and the federation will not leave us behind. ”
“Time for these mountain lions is running out and the NWF is very grateful to the Annenberg Foundation for the outstanding leadership that has helped make this transition a reality,” said Beth Pratt, California National Wildlife Federation’s regional executive director and chief executive. belonging #SaveLACougars campaign. “We hope this game-changing gift will inspire other philanthropists and community organizations to step up so we can take our first steps in November.”
The Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing will take place on the US-101 Freeway where it passes through the city Agura Hills. Freeway 101 is a busy commuter route that serves the greater Los Angeles area; connects Los Angeles and Ventura counties; and serves as the main access route to downtown Los Angeles, various residential and tourist destinations in Los Angeles, and to and from the coast of central California. This place presents a formidable and almost insurmountable barrier to many wildlife species, including: mountain lions, lynxes, gray foxes, coyotes, as well as mule deer who inhabit and travel between Santa Monica mountains in Simi Hills, and Mountains of Santa Susana – over 300,000 cars pass this freeway every day.
The wildlife crossing will feature robust engineering and innovative landscaping that will integrate the structure with the surrounding mountain habitat and include barriers with vegetation to reduce the impact of traffic noise and roadway lighting on wildlife movement.
As evidenced by decades of wildlife crossing projects around the world, for example, the successful construction in Banff National Park, and many animals seen on the flyover in Utah in a recent viral video, wildlife transitions are working. Wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon is the answer for two decades National Park Service Study, and the need to create a vital link for the endangered populations of mountain lions and other wildlife in the Santa Monica mountains. The crossing, a major green infrastructure project in California, will create jobs in the region and generate economic benefits in the future.
Wildlife Transition is an epic public-private partnership that draws on the expertise and leadership of dozens of organizations and institutions. Major partners include Caltrans, National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Conservation Service / Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority, Santa Monica Mountains Resource Conservation Area, and National Wildlife Federation. The project partners have also added an internationally renowned design team led by a landscape architecture bureau, LLC “Living Environment”, which collaborates with Caltrans and coordinates with a broad group of wildlife crossing experts in the planning and design of wildlife crossing.
To find out more about #SaveLACougars campaign and its efforts to build a wildlife crossing on Liberty Canyon, CLICK HERE!
The Post National Wildlife Federation received a $ 25 million Annenberg Challenge grant for the world’s largest wildlife crossing to town to rescue the Santa Monica mountain lions, first appearing in World Animal News.