$18 Million Raised From Across Nation To Bridge SM Mountain Cougars Over The 101
Written by 991KBU on January 28, 2021
Some anonymous person … who lives in La Canada Flintridge … has donated two million dollars to held save mountain lions by building a wildlife bridge over the 101 Freeway.
Another anonymous gift … 1 point 4 million dollars.
A couple from Kansas has contributed $675,000… after reading about the landlocked Malibu mountain lions National Wildlife.
And someone who lives right down the road from the bridge has donated a quarter million dollars.
Add it all up … and the Save Our Cougars campaign has raised 18 million dollars for the bridge.
Beth Pratt … is the California representative for the National Wildlife Federation.
She started four years ago to raise the local match for the project … which will ultimately cost more than 60 million dollars.
The Liberty Canyon Crossing will be the largest such wildlife bridge in the country ….
It not only has to cross 10 lanes of freeway … but a canyon and an adjacent frontage roadway … called Agoura Road.
Pratt tells the Los Angeles Daily News newspaper that Caltrans is on schedule to finish the blueprints this summer.
And if all the pledges come in … groundbreaking for the bridge will be in November.
Utility relocation and drainage work comes first … and construction is not expected to interfere with traffic on the ten lane freeway except for some overnight closures.
The Liberty Canyon crossing would likely be the world’s largest such crossing, and they hope it could serve as a model for urban wildlife conservation across the globe
