In this special episode of Farm Talk, sponsored by petrx.com, we delve into an extraordinary wildlife conservation project with our esteemed guest, Beth Pratt, the California Regional Director of the National Wildlife Federation. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking animal crossing over highway 101 near Agoura Hills CA. Beth shares the inspiring story of her "BFF" and the world-famous mountain lion, P-22, whose journey highlighted the dangers of highway crossings for wildlife. Discover how freeways not only pose fatal risks to animals but also genetically isolate them, threatening their survival. From the project's inception in the late 2000s to Beth's involvement in 2012, learn about the collaboration between the National Park Service, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Federation. Beth recounts overcoming skepticism, the challenges of building in a difficult location, and the impressive dimensions of the crossing. Hear about the vital role P-22 and other wildlife play in this project, the research and fundraising efforts, and the significant contributions from figures like Wallis Annenberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. Discover the local support from Agoura Hills, the Save the L.A. Cougars campaign, and the community’s enthusiasm, including spectator interest during construction. Learn about volunteer programs and how you can stay informed via their online platforms. Join us for an inspiring journey into wildlife conservation and the heroic efforts to save California’s mountain lions. Special thanks to our sponsor, petrx.com!
GET 20% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER WITH PETRX.COM WITH THE COUPON CODE: FARMTALK20
Watch the Full Episode HERE
What you will learn in this episode:
0:00 This is a special episode of Farm Talk that is sponsored by PETRX.com (See above for 20% off your first order with petrx.com)
0:33 Introduction of our episode guest, the California Regional Director of the National Wildlife Federation, Beth Pratt and our topic: The animal crossing over highway 101 in The Santa Monica Mountains.
1:10 Beth Pratt tells us the story of who her, self-proclaimed, “BFF,” and world famous mountain lion, P-22
1:37 Paul explains the problem with animal deaths because of trying to cross major highways
2:36 Beth Pratt describes the beauty of the LA area and its surroundings and how P-22 brought attention to the fact that not only are the freeways in these areas causing animals to be killed by vehicles when the animals are trying to cross, but that the freeways are genetically isolating the animals and causing them risk of extinction
6:08 The history of this project is explained by Beth Pratt starting from its infancy in the late 2000’s to when she got involved in 2012.
8:25 The core group collaborating on this project has been The National Park Service, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and then Beth’s group, the National Wildlife Federation
10:02 Beth Pratt shares how in the beginning there was a lot of skepticism about the project and some of things that they had to overcome to get the project started
11:13 This crossing was built in the one of the most difficult places it could be built
12:01 The dimensions of the crossing are shared by Beth
12:50 Beth Pratt shares how P-22 and mountain lions are most at risk of extinction and the reasons why
14:27 Other wildlife and how they are impacted by the building of the crossing
15:48 From inception to now, Beth talks about the research, grants, etc
16:39 Funding for this project has come from both government grants and private donations, which The National Wildlife Federation worked hard at fundraising for.
18:07 More about mountain lions, the territories, the number in the Santa Monica Mountain area and the importance of this crossing for their genetic exchange
19:17 The crossing is named the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Corridor because Wallis Annenberg was the largest donator at 25 Million, and other big names, like Leonardo DiCaprio, join in by donating
21:52 California Governor, Gavin Newosme’s involvement
23:13 P-22 gave this project a story to share the importance of it being completed and Beth Pratt explains P-22’s almost impossible journey with crossing the highway numerous times
26:55 California is looking at building other animal crossings, possible in the Bay Area
28:08 Local support and Beth Pratt praises the city of Agoura Hills and surrounding areas for their support and the Save the L.A. Cougars campaign which was started in 2014
31:09 There have even been spectators during the construction of this crossing and what to expect if you were to come watch for animals actually crossing the bridge and the cameras set up to share as well
33:24 The volunteers, the docent programs, and the training involved for the volunteers to work the docent program
36:22 How to learn more via their websites and Facebook and Instagram
37:19 Thank you to our special sponsor: petrx.com
Related Episodes:
Viral Vet Tales: Unveiling Holistic Animal Care with Dr. Rhiannon Fenton
Hear what all the buzz is about in Camarillo with commercial beekeeper Larry Pender
Learn More Here:
savelacougars.org
101wildlifecrossing.org
Contact Paul Ward:
805-479-5004
paul@homeandranchteam.com
Have ideas for future episodes? We'd love to answer your questions - leave a comment! For any home buying or home selling needs in the Ventura County area of California, please reach out to Paul@HomeAndRanchTeam.com or visit www.HomeAndRanchTeam.com
A special THANK YOU to our sponsor, Petrx.com! Farm Talk with Paul Ward would not be possible without the support of our sponsor Petrx.com. Supporting our sponsor ensures Farm Talk can provide listeners with the best possible episodes.
This is a special episode of Farm Talk sponsored by PetRx.com, an online pet pharmacy. PetRx.com is located in Westlake Village, California, near the Wildlife Crossing. PetRx.com delivered right to your door with care. In this episode of Farm Talk, we're talking about the animal crossing over Highway 101. Hi friends, it's Paul Ward, and welcome to Farm Talk. The Santa Monica Mountains are the largest urban national park in the United States and actually the world, and with that, animals have to coexist with millions of cars. And of course, if there are accidents, the animals pretty much lose every time. And so, folks are trying to find a solution to this problem. Who better to discuss that than Beth Pratt, the California Regional Director of the National Wildlife Federation? Beth, welcome to Farm Talk. Thanks for having me. It's a great day. Absolutely. And I must add that you're also BFF to P22. Yeah, or former BFF, but still even in his passing, yeah, I feel like we're still connected. And for folks that don't know, P22 was a mountain lion. P22 was this incredibly beloved and worldwide famous mountain lion that lived in LA. Like I'm talking in LA under the Hollywood sign, and he sadly passed away at the end of 2022, but he's kind of like a Jim Morrison or Marilyn Monroe, like even in his depth, he's still very much wind people. So yeah, he lives on in the true Hollywood style. I also, so you noticed or, and other folks as well, that, you know, animal deaths is just kind of staggering. I read recently that it's a million animals a day, are killed by cars in the United States, billions a year, you know, globally. And so we have this urban metropolis, Los Angeles, which is just, you know, sprawl for hundreds of miles. And you know, interesting that we also have the largest national park right next door, which people don't realize that the Santa Monica Mountains is a national park, right? And so with that, you have, you know, animals coexisting or forced to coexist with people, and they try to cross the road and splat, they're dead. And with Highway 101, it's kind of the great wall of China that animals can't get across. Exactly. And so you and others spearheaded this project to build an animal crossing. You know, it's, to me, there's, there's so much to this project that's wondrous, but also I think, you know, myth-busting in some respects too. I mean, first of all, you know, people think of LA and they just think of concrete and smog, and L.A. has an incredible amount of open space that I don't think people realize. Now, I mean, the Santa Monica Mountains, which run right into the middle of L.A., right? Griffith Park, right, are just incredible. Sometimes I'm on trails. I think I'm in Yosemite, but what happens is that is overlaid with, I'd say, the only myth that is true about track, about L.A., which is the traffic and the freeways. I mean, you know, it's almost become this fun. The 405, the 101, is either the fun, and the Saturday Night Live skit, right? You can run them down. Right. So you have this great wildlife habitat that, you know, people like the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spent decades ensuring was here, and you have a lot of wildlife. We have mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, you know, you can just go down the list. But the problem is you have these formidable freeways, some of the busiest freeways in the world, like the 101, the 405, and the five intersecting that habitat. And as you said, when the cars and animals meet, the car is going to win every time. Right. So it was actually P-22, the mountain lion that we opened with that introduced me to kind of what was happening. When I first started with the National Wildlife Federation in 2011, you know, I was working more in traditional conservation. My background's been more in Yellowstone and Yosemite. I've worked in these remote areas, you know, National Park's final career. And when P-22 came on the scene in 2012, this not line pops up in the middle of L.A. I didn't even believe it at first, you know, it was a headline, I'm like, there is no way that is true. But I met with the National Park Service biologist Jeff Sickidge. I'd maybe, even after 20 years in California, been to L.A. maybe a half a dozen times. I'd never been to Griffith Park at this point. And he meets me in Griffith Park, and he's telling me about what all these mountain lions were going through, not just P-22, how these freeways work, not just defying their habitat, but putting them at risk of extinction. Because A, it's not just them getting chilled by the cars, but these freeways are genetically isolating them so that they're only options for breeding as with their own family. So they're in breeding themselves out of existence because they cannot, their home territories are defined by these freeways. So it, and then that led to the solution. It was actually that very day when I met with Jeff Sickidge, the National Park Service biologist, he's telling me about not just P-22 being trapped by these freeways, but this whole population that literally they didn't think was going to make it. And I remember thinking, well, how can I help? And naive me, Jeff was like, well, there's this little crossing we've been trying to get built. I'm like, sure, I'm going to be 13 years of my life in counting and $100 million plus. But yeah, for me, it was just a moral imperative. We knew how to solve it, how could I on my watch let these mountains go extinct if there's a solution? Right. So you and Jeff and others got together and then determined that the best solution for the cats, but not just mountain lions, but other animals as well, was to build a crossing of significant size. It's not just a little, you know, footbridge for pedestrians in a strategic location, right? That would connect the Santa Monica Mountains to another open space area. Yeah. So, you know, this has so many, I mean, the history of this goes back to, I think, actually the late 80s, where you have the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and I love it's right here in Gora Hills, where this literally one of the most significant conservation projects of our time was born. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, of course, was preserving open space for decades. And Paul Edelman and Joe Edmondson at the time, this is in the late 80s before corridors and connectivity were really in kind of a common scientific thought. You know, back then, when I was coming up in conservation and getting my education, the dominant view was still, okay, you put aside a Yosemite or a refuge here or a park here, check preserved it for wildlife. We now know scientifically, not true, and that's what I love about science. When we get more evidence, we change our mind. We now know that connectivity is important. You just can't have a landscape, you know, an island. But back then, that wasn't as prevalent. And you had visionaries like Paul Edelman and Joe Edmond saying, saying, you know, there's just this thing intuitive, and this was born out in letters and reports they were sending at the time about continuous space, they kind of instinctually knew that was important. And that's the only reason we're able to put this crossing now, is they were able to connect where Liberty Canyon is, is connecting the Santa Monica Mountains to open space to the north, you know, you get into the Santa Susana as you get into, you know, all the way up to Los Padres. It's the last 1600 feet in the entire area that has that connected space on both sides. So I love that, you know, even instinctually years ago, that they kind of knew something you've done. But I'd say the most recent, you know, sort of this recent push started, I'd say in the late 2000s, like 2008, 2009, the park service had started doing their research in 2002, at least on the Mount lines. They were starting to see some alarming results, such as the genetic decline. And so they started talking with the Conservancy, with Caltrans, Senator Fran Pavley, again, Fran Pavley Meadow right here at Agora Hills. You know, she was the first mayor of Agora Hills and went on become a state senator. She was one of the folks that led the early charge, at least starting to get people talking about what was impossible, a tunnel was thrown out, you know, what do we do here? And then I got involved in 2012. And yeah, we kind of, behind the scenes for a couple of years, looked at did some feasibility studies, looked at where, what the dominant view from all the scientists was over crossing, and it had to be in that location. And then we were off and running, and it's just been a really great collaboration. The main partners are the National Park Service, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and then my group, which was the last partner, myself, and the National Wildlife Federation. But of course it takes a village, there are so many more partners involved in this. But that was sort of the core group that has really, like, day-to-day working on this project. And Caltrans had never done anything like this before. I mean, they were known for highways, and that's it. I mean, maybe some surface streets, but not really helping animals. You know, what's interesting is none of the partners had done any of this before. The park service hadn't built a crossing, at least in California. It's in my amount of concerns that he hadn't built a crossing, National Wildlife Federation hadn't built a crossing, Caltrans hadn't built a crossing. But what was really wonderful, and we just had the dream team of these visionary folks who have, all of them, have been with this project for 13 years now. But yeah, at first Caltrans, you know, was like, "Well, we'll build it, but we don't have a budget." Their hang-up wasn't that we can't do it, but that there's no budgets for this stuff, do they? You know, park service was like, "We need to do this." Conservatives were like, "Same. We're a land agency. We don't do crossings." So, but what's been wonderful is, yeah, definitely back then, although everybody was kind of willing to explore this, certainly, I think there were a lot of more, "Well, this is crazy." Even my own organization was like, "This will never happen." The project manager, Shake, who's been on it now since 2016, I think, he told us around groundbreaking, we didn't notice at the time, he was the fifth project manager we got. And he told us at groundbreaking that he was actually told when it was handed off to him, "Don't worry. Just humor him. This is never going to happen." Meanwhile, we joke about that. So, there definitely was some, if not, skepticism, just like, "Hey, this isn't going to happen, and why would you?" Yeah, we had to counter a lot of, "Why would you put it in an urban area because of that myth that there's no wildlife here?" But yeah, none of us had done it, and that's why we brought in a lot of outside help, consulted with experts like who built the bank crossings, and indeed, we did this a little differently in that we actually fundraised more money to bring in experts to work side-by-side with Caltrans. Nobody does it better than Caltrans in building a bridge and doing our roads, or the largest transportation agency in the country if not the world. But they had never done the biological overlay. This is a mammoth project, and this isn't just some, you know, two-lane road with a dirt floor for the animals to cross, I mean, this is like a whole habitat. Yeah, you know, what I find interesting is we picked, and I've toured crossing sites all over the U.S., we picked the hardest place to put a crossing in the country easily. One of the biggest freeways and busiest freeways in the country, you only have one place to put it. You can't pick, like, the best place to engineer it. There's only 1,600 feet right there where you can put it because there's development, then there's development. And it's massive. Listen, we could ask a lot, "Why is it so big?" I would happily have built the smallest wildlife crossing in the world, but we had to go over the 101 and the access road, you know, Gora Road is right there. And we are putting a full-fledged habitat on top, so you need to handle a soil load, which is actually, I didn't know this going into this, it surprised me, but I guess it makes sense now. I thought, "Oh, if you're not having cars on it, you need less of a structure. You need more because of water and soil because we're putting vegetation on top." You have to make it wider because the animals will not feel safe. We have to mitigate for sound and light. If you just put a narrow bridge across, you might get an animal here and they're using it. For the most part, they're going to know they're still on the freeway. So this came with so many design considerations to actually erase the freeway from the animals both sound and, you know, vision, all those things. So it's massive. It's some 210 feet long by, this is just the structure over the 101. We're not even talking the access road by 175. Why? Wow. And you can see it now. You can see how. Wow. And animals will, some animals will make it their home. Yeah. That was the only thing. You know, we use P-22 in the mountain lions as kind of the poster cat because everybody loves cats, right? And they were most at risk and still are of extinction. Because of their territory needs, you know, they happen in enormous territories. They need to be able to navigate these freeways because they're in breeding themselves out of existence. This 101 is like the, you know, the Great Wall of China or the, you know, the border wall. It's almost impenetrable. And so Mount Lions south of the 101 are literally the only breeding options they have are with their family members. Imagine you're on Tinder and you're swiping and all you get is your, your father, you know, your, your daughter and you break your daughter. Yeah, don't go at it. And that's what the National Park Service Research is showing is literally they are getting to the point where they will be sterile, you know, birth defects showed up in 2020. Not a good sign. Okay. But having said that, this freeway impacts a wildlife from monarch butterflies to rent it to Western facilities to fight, you know, you name any almost any animal with cinematic mountains is impacted by this. So the habitat is being designed for all wildlife. So you may be driving under and yeah, you may have a mountain line crossing over you during your commute, but you might have a Fox family on top raising its young or a monarch butterfly, a lighting on some native milkweed. So for me, it's really hopeful in that it's not just about getting animals from point A to point B, it is reconnecting the entire cinematic mountains ecosystem for both flora and fauna for all wildlife. And now it's a little different than most crossings. Most crossings just are designed for big animals, get them across the road, you throw some gravel and on top and you're good, nothing wrong with that, but we had a bigger problem. We just don't get as much roadkill as you think there. It's more that it's such a big barrier. The animals don't even attempt. And just to show you, you know, it impacts all wildlife, even animals, you might not think birds, right? And even butterflies. I know during butterfly migration season, you know, I feel like I'm a mass murderer, right? But birds also, you know, you see dead birds all the time on these roadways. We just put the girders up, right? So you now I'm a bridge platform. But what that also did was now block out the light in that area for the first time in what? 70 years, I don't even know. And some students in Dr. Travis Long, who are actually studies light pollution, how it impacts wildlife, they're out there measuring light levels one night and they saw a barn owl, and they saw him fly across a freeway right over the new platform because to him, the lack of light meant safety. Interesting. So it's already working. And for an animal, you might not even expect a barn owl. Wow. That's really fascinating. So you said this has been going on 13 years and kind of in the making from kind of its inception to today. I mean, I date back to the idea of something here, you know, decades. But I would say like they started talking about again, something more seriously, I'd say like 2009, 2008, when the Park Service, some of the early results of the Park Service Research was coming back. And then it got serious. When I came on board, they had just applied for a federal tiger brand to actually look at feasibility doing a tunnel, right? That was an early idea, which was ruled out pretty quickly. And I'd say, yeah, this current like serious push was about, you know, 2010, 2011. And then I came on board in 2012. Was it mostly private funding that just kind of took off and then they kind of, you know, got the government grants kind of as it progressed? It was full. I mean, so that was my job. Like you had these entities who were pretty much talking about this behind closed doors. Because that's what you do. You got to figure out if it can work. Right. But when we started seeing, you know, how big it was going to be, early on, we're like, yeah, we're going to have to go for some private funding here. We need the private community because it was so visionary and different. This is a landmark crossings. You know, it's not that while all of crossings are nothing new, but nobody's ever done one like this before. Again, in urban, this urban area, this large scale, you know, it just, it was just different in so many ways. So the National Wildlife Federation, my group, when I came on board, we're the only ones that can fundraise and advocate. You know, the other agencies cannot, right? The Park Service is a public. So that was my job then to take the science and their need and figure out how to implement it. And yeah, my assessment and, you know, the group's assessment early on is we have to go private here, like, you know, A, because for a few reasons, one, it is so different. And, you know, public, public are not as good at risk-taking, right, to the urgency. These mountain lions are out of time, like came over. The National Park Service research was showing if we don't do something. And how many mountain lions were there estimated to be in the Santa Monica Mountains versus kind of north, if they could get north, they could have a bigger pool to breed with? Well, yeah, it's just sort of an exchange program. Where do mountain lions should be, both in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond? They are. And the mountain lions are extremely self-regulating. They do not share territories, so they live alone. They have enormous territories, 150 square miles. Wow, each guy? Yes, enormous territory. Wow. So it's not that the, you know, there wasn't mountain lions where they should be. And I always like to stress that this is not about bringing more mountain lions. It's just about that mountain lions from the south can leave and mountain lions from north can come in and you've had this genetic exchange, right? So they estimate in the greater Santa Monica Mountains area, just because of the math since we know they don't share territory, you know, probably anywhere between 10 and 12 to maybe 15 and kind of like Ventura all the way up to, you know, even going into like the Seamie Hills and then all the way to Griffith Park. So it's not a huge population, right. But yeah, the crossing itself will again help facilitate that genetic exchange. So yeah, it's to me, but it's also like, like we talked about going to help with all wildlife. And it has a specific name, the Wallace Annenberg wildlife corridor, Wallace Annenberg wildlife crossing. And yeah, when you, when getting back to the funding question, the reasons we knew we needed to at least go partly private A was visionary. It was big to the timeframe as we talked about these mountain lions were on their way out. If we didn't do this now, they probably weren't going to be here. Right. And three, the other thing we didn't want to do was take away transportation dollars. Right. We don't want to take away money from bridge repair and road repair, right? And that, you know, early on, we're like, yeah, that the optics on that aren't great. So we really started with a big private push and that was my job as the only entity that could fundraise and advocate and do the public outreach, although we all work together on that. And we had, I think, two pivotal, a few pivotal moments here, both on the private and public side early on was, yes, this caught the attention of some pretty big visionary folks. Leonardo DiCaprio, which was one of our first donors, was just believed in this project. And Wallace Annenberg in 2015, she donated the first million private million dollar donation. And we were kind of off and running. And then on the public side, we had, again, an agency that was really early on. This is still when we were being told we were crazy by most people, I had a special place in my heart for those people now, you know, like, yeah, I guess we were crazy, but the state coastal conservancy put up the million for our environmental documents. And then we were off and running. So we had some really great early private investors on the public side. It was from, I'm pretty sure it was from the Prop 117 habitat conservation fund from the state coastal conservancy. So then we were able to do, you know, the steps in the process, the environmental permitting and 30% design with those two donations. And then at that point, Caltrans could do their work in designing, but then we had to, you know, start raising funds for construction and all that. And that's where Wallace Annenberg, you know, she just did not donate, you know, right at check. Her and City Canar and the whole team at the Annenberg Foundation were with us every step of the way. And as we proceeded, we turned that million that they donated into 10 million. Wow. And matching funds. Yeah, exactly matching and just in showing. And then of course, Wallace said we're going to give the lead donation, which was 25 million. We wouldn't have a crossing without her. And that's why it is named for the Annenberg Foundation. Wonderful. Yeah. But then I will say on the public side, we then had, I can't thank Governor Gavin Newsom enough and Wade Crowfoot and others. But, you know, I was privileged enough with some of the project partners to give Governor Newsom a private tour. This is, I think, about 2018. He was his dad, was instrumental in mountain line protection here. So for him, this is, this is a legacy project. And we gave him a tour of the crossing, no press. It was just, you know, myself, some of the partners and after that, he's like, whenever help you need, we're going to get this done. And he has been instrumental on the state side. So it's actually turned out to be almost a 50/50 split with, again, state funds. But these are funds that have to be spent on conservation for the most part, right? So like bond measures that are voted for environment and then the private community stepping up at the half. So to me, this is such a great example of a public-private partnership where both sides said, we got to do this. How do we make it work and meeting each other halfway? We cost them. Do you see this as a model for the future? I mean, it's not the only place in California or the United States or the world that needs animal crossings. I mean, it's, and there are other animal crossings in the world. Yeah. But this is certainly probably the biggest of the United States. Yeah, the biggest in the world, from at least what we're being told, I hope somebody knocks us off. I would love for it to be. But yeah, you know, wildlife crossings are nothing new. I think what P-22 in this crossing did was opens people's eyes. I mean, a lot of these crossings are in rural areas. You just never see them. And I think it showed people, you know, P-22 really, his story, you know, this cat who made this miraculous journey, he grew up right here in the central Santa Monica Mountains. We know that from genetic testing, he had to find a new home when he came of age. It's a mountain lion when they're about one or two, which is equivalent to kind of our teenage years. Again, they don't share territory, so they have to go find a new home. And if you're in the middle of the, you know, greater LA metropolitan area, that ain't easy. Right. Right. So he did what he had to do. He just kept walking. Most of the males in this area get hit by cars or do not make it to the age of two. He made a journey that most others die doing, which is he crossed both the 405 and the 101 roads that I am terrified driving on most of the time. Here's this cat who walked it on foot and is somebody who has retraced that likely journey got almost two dozen times now? I don't know how I make it. Never mind. Send away. Winning the lottery. Yes. He won the lottery. It's almost impossible. You think about it. And if you're local, you know how crazy that is. Yeah. Right. If you're not, I mean, just have to look at your walk. You see, he had to walk to Beverly Hills and mall and drive. I mean, it's insane, right? He had to, you know, cross these freeways that are just 10 lane traffic. I mean, I've stood on both those freeways at 2 AM, which is when Mount lines are active. I still wouldn't run across for a million bucks. I mean, they just don't slow down much. So yeah, he makes this miraculous journey. And then he's kind of trapped in Griffith Park, you know, for 10 years. I think he made a very reasoned Mount line decision that I'm not going across those freeways again. Griffith Park, though, they're Mount line. Lots of deer. Okay. Bachelorette. They stay and put, but that put a real human story to this Mount line. And I think people related to more than a scientific paper, which is here, they were watching it real time, him trapped and trying to make it in LA, which for, you know, I think a lot of us, we can identify how challenging it is to have a dating life in LA, especially with the 405 divide, right? Right. So, you know, his, I think his world fame and showing the impact of these freeways on him day to day. Right. You know, you'd have reports of what he had to go through because there were cameras set up and we as followers and then you have cameras everywhere, you know, he'd pop up now and then like when he took a nap in a crawl space and, you know, so you had this what I, you know, have termed the Brad Pitt of Mount lions, you know, sort of his story playing out in real time that showed people what this cat had to go through to survive in a urban landscape and what we needed to do, which was connect space. It's not that he shouldn't have been in Griffith Park, but he should have been able to come and go safely. Right. And so that, along with just the utter audacity of us to think we could build a crossing in the busiest freeway in the world, I think elevated the cause of crossings in a way that they are now part of the public consciousness and people love them. They're bipartisan. Doesn't matter if you're red state, blue state, people widely support them. Now they're just being talked about, which is what I love that P-22 and the Wallace Annemarie did was, was just put them in the public consciousness in a way they hadn't been before. And now you're just seeing this wave of more crossings. You're seeing like Governor Newsom and not this budget year, but the last two, 150 million towards more crossings in California. We're looking at more in California. Maybe the Bay Area, other urban areas. There is no shortage in the Bay Area. You know, you have, there's this new crossing I'm looking at where thousands of newts are killed every year. You have just even in Southern California on the 15 down near San Diego, same mountain line situation playing out. You have crossings for on 395, from you'll dare, listen, there is, there is a list that we could knock out, you know, no shortage of projects. But also across the country, I love that, you know, California is typically an influencer, right? And there's no different here. We've seen, because I think it's that, hey, if L.A. can do that ambitious thing, then we can. You're seeing state budgets, putting money, you're seeing states like New Jersey passing connectivity plans, New Mexico, you know, you name it. So it, it, I think it really elevated crossings in a way that for me is the best outcome of this project that it's not a one off. We're going to do more. Like it's kind of the beginning of the movement and other people took notice and now it's now it's moving. That to me is the best outcome of this project. Now, you mentioned with the science that this was the only spot that it would work. Yeah. Right. Connecting the bigger Santa Monica Park to the northern region. But then you also had to get local public support and we're kind of at a, we're sitting in a horse bar right now and people here, you know, love the outdoors. Yep. But you all said to get political support locally. Yeah. So it kind of all had to come together. It all had to come together and I can't thank the Boreals and Alpha Boreals. I consider it my second home. It's an incredible community for those who don't know where Boreals in California. You probably know where Calabasas is because the Kardashians is from there. That's the next town over. But yeah, Greg Hills and all the surrounding communities have been supported since the beginning that that's what was so interesting about this project, right? I've been working in conservation for God, my whole life really. So we're talking 35 years now, maybe, maybe a little less. But usually it's a fight, okay? But there was no bad guy here. Right. You know, the land was protected. There was another new fight there. Calabasas was like, we'll do it. We just need the money, which, you know, wasn't easy, but that's an easy problem, easier problem to solve, just, you know, writing checks, right? And yeah, the city and all the surrounding cities since the beginning have been ultra supportive. I knew that we were just, we're not going to have a problem when we had literally our first public rally in 2014. We did a lot of work behind the scenes for about a year, year and a half. And then we launched the Save LA Cougars campaign in 2014. And we did, that was when we sort of made our first big first public announcement about we were looking at this and we needed, we needed support. I think we were going after a government grant at that point. And we put out a release about a community meeting and a public rally. And we figured we'd get like 20 to 50 people. It was 9 a.m., you know, nobody likes to drive in rush hour. Four hundred and fifty people show up on those crews every year. The mayor of Agora Hills, you know, for school kids with posters, Agora Hills residents. I think, you know, you had with posters saying we want the crossing. My favorite poster was protect the local cougars for guys like me. I still love that poster. And we were just off the City of Agora Hills and all surrounding cities, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, you name it, all past resolutions early on supporting this. So I just, I can't thank especially the City of Agora Hills who has just been with us every step of the way. They're such a great partner, both the leaders and the residents who have just stepped up and said yes. I mean, I'm cheering up, right? We want these mountain lions to have a future. We want wildlife to have a future on this landscape. And I just, you know, Agora Hills, you're doing this visionary conservation project of our lifetime. And so we see people coming out to like watch the animals cross. I mean, I kind of envision like Noah's Ark. They're like, you know, just like come out and watch the animals cross. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if it'll quite be like that. I'll tell you before I answer that, that people come out and watch the construction. Oh my God. Like is every step of the way people will post and hear emotional like all the bridges up. So it is fun to see people get emotional. So crossings are not quite going to be like Noah's Ark where I think if you are going to come out and wait for animals to cross, get bored and get bored. I mean, you know, a mountain lion might cross, you know, I don't even know, you know, I mean, it's not like the animals just queue up every. We are going to have some observation that Ross and itself people won't be allowed on, but we're going to have both a high educational platform and talk about another amazing donor, rank and Joanne Randall donated a sizable amount and they will have two educational platforms named for them. One on both sides. One will be a lower one, a little more accessible, the other will be kind of a hike up where you can look down on the crossing. Yeah. I'm sure at some point people will see, you know, deer or something go over. But yeah, these crossings, even, you know, all the ones I've toured, it's not like you're having this parade of animals, you know, they'll come in kind of cycles. Sure. I'm sure seasonal or the monarch, but yeah, exactly. Seasonal or, you know, deer, they'll, you know, they'll pass through it not every day. So yeah, it'll be interesting. We are actually taking bets on what animal will cross first. Now nobody had barn owl on their bingo card. So this barn already used it, but we are taking bets of like once it's completed, what's the first animal to criteria? What's the first animal to actually cross it? And then what's the first animal use it? I mean, that could be like a fence lizard or something, but what is the first animal to cross it? My money's probably on a coyote. They're pretty bold and right and extroverted. So you'll have a cross crossing cam, right? Oh, they'll be 24. I'll tell you this site, the park service has been monitoring with cameras for decades now. We have cameras now that construction is going on. And yeah, they'll be we actually, there is a whole monitoring plan the parksters put together, host construction. So we're not going to do it real time because yeah, we don't want people running to the crossing, but we will be sharing all of the footage from from animals using it. It's going to be quite exciting. I understand that you have volunteers that are going to be helping helping folks kind of learn about the crossing and the habitat that's going to be created. Yeah, the volunteers have been so key to this effort since the beginning. We've had volunteers that have been with us literally since we started, you know, a couple of people that come to mind a gorer residence like George Coleman. He was in the since the beginning, Sherri Fiverr, who lived literally right in Liberty Canyon. But you know, is this crossing started getting constructed? There was I mean, we were getting calls for tours all the time, even before something was built. People wanted to see the site. They wanted to learn more. So the National Wildlife Federation, we needed to assemble a docent program. And so one of the partners we work with in our work, the Human Conservancy, we funded and charged to manage that for us, just to get us started. You know, this was a couple of years ago, and they did an incredible job. But we are to the point now where literally we are now taking that back because the demand is so big. We're actually hiring a person to manage that program. I mean, the tours, we're doing not even just the docent tours, but we're doing, you know, sometimes five tours a week and then the docents, those are like more for like, you know, engineering will call us up or elected officials. And then the docents weekend tours are filling up. So yeah, we actually are right now hiring for somebody to lead it and the National Wildlife Federation will be kind of taking that back and house. The crew of Conservancy, though, a great partner who they're really, you know, docents really wasn't their main focus of their nonprofit. They do coexistence. In fact, we're doing a coexistence workshop at King Gillette Ranch on June 29th. But yeah, the docent, they are such a dedicated group, like those who kill volunteers of every ilk for this project. So we have some that do events like P 22 Day, they, but the docents is a real commitment. You have to go through a pretty intensive training. You have to graduate. You have to stay up on the latest information. And we just have such a great core group of docent folks who were out there in the heat in the fufuro. Sometimes the rain doing tours and the interest has been so high. I mean, these tours just keep filling up and this thing isn't even built yet, you imagine. And I think that leads to the next part that, you know, we're thinking about now, you know, this is going to be complete sometime in 2026. I mean, we're just getting started. I mean, you know, we do, the news is our, you see this in the news every week. I probably do five media interviews at least a week. Wow. Think about when it's finished. So we are starting to think about the long term interpretation and education. You know, I think the docent tours are only going to increase. What are the interpretation? We have to put an exhibit up in the Agora Hills library so people can come learn about it. But yeah, we're just getting started, I think, with the outreach. It's pretty exciting to think about. That's incredible. And for folks that want to learn more, just generally or maybe they're local and they're excited and maybe they want to be a docent, how is there a website or Facebook or Instagram? Oh, yeah. There's so many ways you can connect. There's two main websites. They're SavileCougars.org and then there's 101wildlifecrossing.org. We manage both. One is kind of focused more on the education and fun and fundraising, that's SavileCougars.org. And then 101wildlifecrossing.org is the partner site. We have FAQs and it's really focused just on like the crossing and things like that. So either of those websites, you can follow me on Facebook. I post a lot about a Beth Pratt one or P22 on Facebook or Instagram. And then obviously, you know, any of the Caltrans sites, if you're interested, obviously, like traffic information or something bad. But yeah, we love it. I mean, there's so many ways to get involved, donate, volunteer, spread the word, you know, help with coexistence, no shortage of ways to get involved. We've met with the National Wildlife Federation. Thank you so much for being our guest on Farm Talk. Thanks for keeping me. It was a really fun day to talk to you. Absolutely. And of course, be sure to tune in next time for the next edition of Farm Talk. This episode of Farm Talk was sponsored by PetRx.com. Delivered right to your door with care. (upbeat music)
In this special episode of Farm Talk, sponsored by petrx.com, we delve into an extraordinary wildlife conservation project with our esteemed guest, Beth Pratt, the California Regional Director of the National Wildlife Federation. Join us as we explore the groundbreaking animal crossing over highway 101 near Agoura Hills CA. Beth shares the inspiring story of her "BFF" and the world-famous mountain lion, P-22, whose journey highlighted the dangers of highway crossings for wildlife. Discover how freeways not only pose fatal risks to animals but also genetically isolate them, threatening their survival. From the project's inception in the late 2000s to Beth's involvement in 2012, learn about the collaboration between the National Park Service, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Federation. Beth recounts overcoming skepticism, the challenges of building in a difficult location, and the impressive dimensions of the crossing. Hear about the vital role P-22 and other wildlife play in this project, the research and fundraising efforts, and the significant contributions from figures like Wallis Annenberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. Discover the local support from Agoura Hills, the Save the L.A. Cougars campaign, and the community’s enthusiasm, including spectator interest during construction. Learn about volunteer programs and how you can stay informed via their online platforms. Join us for an inspiring journey into wildlife conservation and the heroic efforts to save California’s mountain lions. Special thanks to our sponsor, petrx.com!
GET 20% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER WITH PETRX.COM WITH THE COUPON CODE: FARMTALK20
Watch the Full Episode HERE
What you will learn in this episode:
0:00 This is a special episode of Farm Talk that is sponsored by PETRX.com (See above for 20% off your first order with petrx.com)
0:33 Introduction of our episode guest, the California Regional Director of the National Wildlife Federation, Beth Pratt and our topic: The animal crossing over highway 101 in The Santa Monica Mountains.
1:10 Beth Pratt tells us the story of who her, self-proclaimed, “BFF,” and world famous mountain lion, P-22
1:37 Paul explains the problem with animal deaths because of trying to cross major highways
2:36 Beth Pratt describes the beauty of the LA area and its surroundings and how P-22 brought attention to the fact that not only are the freeways in these areas causing animals to be killed by vehicles when the animals are trying to cross, but that the freeways are genetically isolating the animals and causing them risk of extinction
6:08 The history of this project is explained by Beth Pratt starting from its infancy in the late 2000’s to when she got involved in 2012.
8:25 The core group collaborating on this project has been The National Park Service, Caltrans, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and then Beth’s group, the National Wildlife Federation
10:02 Beth Pratt shares how in the beginning there was a lot of skepticism about the project and some of things that they had to overcome to get the project started
11:13 This crossing was built in the one of the most difficult places it could be built
12:01 The dimensions of the crossing are shared by Beth
12:50 Beth Pratt shares how P-22 and mountain lions are most at risk of extinction and the reasons why
14:27 Other wildlife and how they are impacted by the building of the crossing
15:48 From inception to now, Beth talks about the research, grants, etc
16:39 Funding for this project has come from both government grants and private donations, which The National Wildlife Federation worked hard at fundraising for.
18:07 More about mountain lions, the territories, the number in the Santa Monica Mountain area and the importance of this crossing for their genetic exchange
19:17 The crossing is named the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Corridor because Wallis Annenberg was the largest donator at 25 Million, and other big names, like Leonardo DiCaprio
