Any baseball fan and movie lover knows that this is a “sorta” quote from “Field of Dreams” (the actual quote is, “If you build it, he will come.”). In this case the “they” are the mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains. In my email inbox the other morning was an exciting message from the National Wildlife Federation announcing “the California Wildlife Conservation Board recently approved a $20 million grant to the wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon.” The proposed land bridge has been a joint project of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service, Caltrans and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.
When the land bridge is finished it will be the culmination of 20+ years of research, fundraising and development. It will be the world’s largest wildlife crossing and will “reconnect an entire ecosystem that has long been fragmented by the 101 freeway”. Fragmentation has not only adversely impacted the mountain lion with P22 being one of its most tragic high profile stories, but studies have shown that the loss of connectivity has affected smaller animals including birds, toads and even bats. The financial goal for the project is $85 million with approximately $73 million raised to date. It is hoped that this ambitious project will be able to start in January, 2022 and be finished by 2023. The Liberty Canyon land bridge is an example to the world of what can be done when people take up the cause for wildlife. More importantly it recognizes how important the natural world is to the well being of all of us whether we are two legged, four legged, six legged, or…
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