The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is under construction at Liberty Canyon, Agoura Rd. This bridge will be considered one of the largest urban wildlife crossings in the United States. 

Connecting the Simi Hills and Santa Monica Mountains gives animals and wildlife access to cross over to new areas of their environment to avoid going into neighborhoods. Before this bridge, the 101 freeway acted as a barrier for animals like the mountain lions that roam the Santa Monica Mountains.

Since 2002, the National Park Service recorded that almost a dozen mountain lions have been struck and killed by cars or motorcyclists on the section of the freeway parallel to Santa Monica Mountains. 

The Resource Conservation District published its design for the bridge which includes dimensions of 165 feet wide and 200 feet long as well as a lush vegetation matte to deflect headlights on the freeway and keep incoming traffic quiet.

“There’s a reason I wanted to support this crossing and issue this challenge: We need to move beyond mere conservation, toward a kind of environmental rejuvenation. Wildlife crossings are powerfully effective at doing just that — restoring ecosystems that have been fractured and disrupted. It’s a way of saying, there are solutions to our deepest ecological challenges, and this is the kind of fresh new thinking that will get us there,” Wallis Annenberg, the Chairman, President and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation said. 

This idea was first proposed in 2015 by the National Wildlife Foundation (NWF) and Caltrans. The bridge’s size and cost would be the main issue so the funds would be reliant on donations from the public. 

Annenberg and her foundation started the call for funds in 2016, creating a one-million-dollar challenge for local leaders to donate to as well as the community. Due to this challenge, The Annenberg Foundation was able to get donations from over 3,000 private companies around the world. 

While the project was projected to start in 2025, the construction was able to start on April 22, 2022, because the Annenberg Foundation had a record-breaking $25 million grant that was going to the NWF.

On The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing website, there are three different camera angles that show the progress of the construction. In a 20-second clip, an entire timelapse is visible from June 9, 2022, to March 23, 2023. 

This new project is being constructed on the homelands of the Chumash.

The Wallis Annenberg Foundation celebrates, honors and respects the history and people of the land. They said they extend their gratitude for the wisdom and understanding they had given them in creating the wildlife crossing.

“This wildlife crossing could not have come at a better time,” Jeff Sikich, a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service, said. 

With the deaths of many mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, the population could be extinct within the next 50 years due to the lack of genetic diversity. The freeways have acted as barriers in between regions, prohibiting the mountain lions to intermingle. With this bridge, hopes are high that the animals will have access to safely roam the territory.