Congress is considering whether to renew a program that funds the construction of safe wildlife crossings in California and across the nation.
The culverts and overpass bridges help animals get past roads that block their migration in search of mates, food or water and seasonal habitat.
Mike Leahy, senior director for wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation, said the projects save the lives of animals and people alike by preventing collisions.
“The wildlife vehicle collisions are a major problem,” he said. “They cost annually over $8 billion, and they cause about 26,000 injuries and hundreds of deaths of humans.”
A 2024 report from the University of California Davis Road Ecology Center found the California Highway Patrol recorded more than 52,000 traffic incidents involving wildlife and recovered more than 162,000 wildlife carcasses between 2009 and 2023. The species most often hit include mule deer, black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, raccoons and Pacific newts.
California has dozens of projects in the pipeline, including one over Route 395 in Mammoth Lakes and another over the 118 freeway in Simi Valley.
Beth Pratt, regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation in California, said the world’s largest wildlife crossing will open at the end of this year just north of Los Angeles, built over the 101 freeway in Agoura Hills.
“This wildlife crossing is unprecedented on many levels,” she said. “It is in the most urban area where one has ever been done. And that 101 barrier was imminently driving the likely extinction of the local mountain lion population.”
The $350 million Wildlife Crossings pilot program started in 2021. Both House and Senate versions of the bill are awaiting action in congressional committees.
