As of December 31, 2019, the #SaveLACougars campaign passed the $14 million mark towards its ultimate goal of $60 million. What a great way to begin 2020, but there’s still a way to go.
As the wildlife crossing advances toward construction and meets the campaign’s fundraising goals, the campaign hopes to break ground in 2021.
The wildlife crossing is not just saving our mountain lions, but is also reconnecting an ecosystem for all wildlife.
In September 2014, the National Wildlife Federation in collaboration with the Santa Monica Mountains Fund kicked off the #SaveLACougars campaign, created to support the Wildlife Crossing Project, which is designed to protect and foster the mountain lion population in the Los Angeles area.
With P-22, the celebrity mountain lion in Griffith Park, as poster child, the priority of this campaign is to advocate for the construction of a wildlife crossing over the Ventura Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills. The crossing will link protected habitats on each side of the freeway together, allowing mountain lions and other wildlife to access the space they need to survive.
In 2015, a $250,000 Project Study Report, funded by MRCA, was completed. In 2018, a $1.5 million Environmental Assessment was completed. An $8.7 million dollar Final Design and Engineering is scheduled for completion in 2021, with construction to start as soon as the goal is met.
L.A. traffic is killing precious wildlife. Mountain lions living near Los Angeles are facing extinction and being killed attempting to cross the freeways. The National Park Service (NPS) reports that since 2002, they have studied over 60 mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains area and have found one main issue: their homes have been cut off. Busy Freeways and urban development throughout Los Angeles have created a population of lions with the lowest genetic diversity measured anywhere in the entire U.S. outside of Florida panthers
Freeways have killed 17 lions since the study began. With multiple large freeways surrounding the lions, the National Wildlife Federation, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and a large community of supporters created the #SaveLACougars campaign. This campaign focuses on building the wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura, for animals to use and safely cross above 10 lanes of LA traffic.
With your help, we’re going to re-connect a precious ecosystem.
To donate and for more information: savelacougars.org.
Hello. Has the project being awarded to a general contractor?