Animal Advocates News, Wildlife Rehabilitation in Los Angeles, California. Animal Advocates rescues ill, injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild. We rescue coyotes, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, squirrels .... and bats. Mary Cummins is a reporter with Animal Advocates News.
Mary Cummins Animal Advocates Los Angeles California Wildlife Rehabilitation Real Estate
mary cummins, animal advocates, wildlife crossing, wallis annenberg wildlife crossing, docent tour, hike, los angeles, california, animaladvocates.us, marycummins.com, nwf,cougar conservancy, national wildlife federation
We attended the Cougar Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation NWF docent hike tour of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. There was no hike and no tour or view of the crossing. We stood on a dirt road near the loud freeway while the docent just read from a paper for 30 minutes. What she read was on the website. Wasted drive and carbon foot print. Everyone was upset at the end of the event when we asked when do we see the crossing. We were told just drive on the freeway. Everyone drove on the freeway to get there so what was the point. People complained online and probably in the survey they sent out.
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After a disappointing docent hiking tour by the National Wildlife Federation and Cougar Conservancy of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing event I decided to find a hike to actually see the wildlife crossing. You can hike from only the south side. Ignore the north route I drew above. The south has a cleared hiking trail all the time. The north side has no view point at all. I hiked it personally and you can't see the crossing from that side because of a ridge. You can see it by walking on the side of the freeway on the north side but that's illegal.
South side hike is 1,300 feet up a hill on a cleared hiking trail. GPS start 34.136984400411855, -118.72892708553738 GPS end 34.13617430519416, -118.73339603254912 . You park on the road which is 27571 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, California 91301. There are signs there showing you the hike. There are two great view sites just 100 ft up the trail. It's called Abrams Trailhead on the map. No need to go to the top. Unfortunately you can only see the two side retaining walls and the top of the middle platform from the south side.
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Below are pics I took August 29, 2023 of the south and north sides of the 101 looking at the crossing.
SOUTH SIDE
NORTH SIDE
The culverts are the ones used by P22 and other mountain lions to cross the freeways. Bring sun protection, water, wear tall boots, long pants, long shirt so you don't have to worry as much about ticks and brush. No sandals, open toed shoes or shorts. Don't walk on the freeway because it's illegal. Here are live cams so you can see current temperature, clearing.
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September 15, 2022 was the virtual open house for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. The current and future status of the project was discussed in detail. This included completion times for different stages. The volunteer docent program was discussed along with information on how to sign up. Below are a few slides from the presentation. Presentation was recorded so a copy should be available online. I'll post it when it's available.
Those present were Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation, Clark Stevens, Robert Rock, Nathan Hamburger, Rorie Skei, Korinna Domingo, Michael Comeaux, Sheik Moinudden, Seth Riley, Dave Dubois of CA Rasmussen construction, Sam Toutounchian and more. Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates attended the webinar.
Wallis Annenberg of The Annenberg Foundation and Governor Gavin Newsom speaking at the groundbreaking event for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, Los Angeles, California, by Mary Cummins with Animal Advocates.
Jeff Sikich, National Park Service, mountain lion, cougar, puma, California, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, conservation, rodenticide, depredation permits, deaths, freeway, wildlife rehabilitation, biologist, scientist
Interview with Jeff Sikich, Biologist with the National Park Service, by Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates. Jeff Sikich talks about mountain lions at the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing groundbreaking event.
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April 22, 2022 - Animal Advocates News - Today was the groundbreaking for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. The wildlife crossing will stretch across eight lanes of the 101 freeway and two lanes across Agoura Rd in Agoura Hills, California. It will be the biggest wildlife crossing in the United States larger than the size of a football field at 200 ft by 165 ft.
The project was designed by Robert Rock of Living Habitat LLC and is being constructed by Southern California construction company C.A. Rasmussen.
The project is the culmination of over a decade of coordinated work by the following people, government agencies and organizations in no particular order,
The Annenberg Foundation: Wallis Annenberg, Lauren Bon, Cinny Kennard, Marsha Bonner, Allison Sprague, Elizabeth Armour California Department of Fish & Wildlife: Charlton Chuck Bonham, Justin Dellinger, Audrey Kelly, Craig Zeff, Daniel Blankenship Caltrans, Caltrans District 7: Sheik Moinuddin, Barbara Marquez, Steven Keck Santa Monica Mountains Fund National Wildlife Federation: Beth Pratt California Coastal Commission State of California: Gavin Newsom Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy & Mountains Recreation Conservancy Authority: Rorie Skei, Joseph T Edmiston, George Lange National Park Service California State Transportation Agency: Toks Omishakin Living Habitats LLC Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority MCRA California State Coastal Conservancy: Amy Hutzel
City of Agoura Hills
State of California Wildlife Conservation Board
California Natural Resources Agency: Wade Crowfoot
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: David Szymanski California Wildlife Conservation Board: John Donnelly US Congressman Ted Lieu US Congressman Adam Schiff California State Senator, Fran Pavely California State Senator, Henry Stern California State Assemblymember, Laura Friedman California State Assemblymember, Richard Bloom Ventura County Supervisor, Linda Parks,
Los Angeles County Supervisor, Sheila Kuehl
City of Los Angeles Councilmember, Paul Koretz City of Agoura Hills Mayor, Deborah Klein Lopez Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains UCLA: Bob Wayne, Brad Shaffer City of Agoura Hills Ad Hoc Committee ARC, Animal Road Crossings: Rob Ament Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County California State Legislative Staff Mountain Lion Foundation: Debra Chase, Fred Hull Humanity Communications Collective Planning & Conservation League Cougar Conservancy Friends of Griffith Park Project Desert View, LLC TBG Events Lili Media & Design Fearless Advocacy: Jennifer Fearing Puente Strategies Ano: Dayna Bochco
Other Supporters, Donors, not inclusive
The Boeng Company: Scarlett C Hibner S.L. Gimbel Foundation, a component fund at The Inland Empire Community Foundation The John Logan Foundation Carolyn J Dvis Head and Heart Foundation Helmut & Patricia Meissner Leoonardo DiCaprio Foundation M. Piuze Foundation Mary Jo and Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation Mary and David Love Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District Measure A The Daniel & Susan Gottlieb Foundation The Gwendolyn Sexton Foundation Verizon Walter E.D. Miller Charitable Fund Wanda & Bud Waugh
Speakers at the Groundbreaking in order of appearance
Beth Pratt, Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation
Alan Salazar, Fernandeño Tataviam, Band of Mission Indians Elder, Chumash, Tataviam, & Pipimaram lineages
Deborah Klein-Lopez, Mayor of Agoura Hills
3rd Rock Hip Hop - Warren Dickson and students
Miguel Ordeñana, Community Science Manager, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Brad Rumble, Principal of Esperanza Elementary School with students Jonathan Salvador-Ramos (Gr. 5) and Allison CoxDiaz (Gr. 4
Julia Butters, actor, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
Nina-Marie Lister, Professor & Director, Ecological Design Lab at Ryerson University & ARC Partner
Jeremy Guth, Conservation Director, the Woodcock Foundation & Founding Partne, ARC Solutions
PARTNERS
State Senator Fran Pavley
National Wildlife Federation: Dirk Sellers, Vice President for Philanthropy — Beth Pratt, Regional Executive Director
National Park Service & Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: David Szymanski, Superintendent — Jeff
Sikich, biologist — Seth Riley, Chief of Wildlife
Santa Monica Mountains Fund: Charlotte Parry, Executive Director —
Resource Conservation District of Santa Monica Mountains: Clark Stevens, Architect & Executive Officer
Caltrans: Steven Keck, Acting Director — Tony Tavares, Caltrans District 7 Director — Sheik Moinnudin, Project Manager
C.A. Rasmussen, Inc: Adam Rasmussen, President
Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy: Linda Parks, Chair — George Lange, Chair — Joe Edmiston, Executive Director —
Rorie Skei, Chief Deputy Director — Paul Edelman, Chief of Natural Resources & Planning
U. S. Senator Alex Padilla
Living Habitats, LLC: Robert Rock, Principal & Chief Operating Officer
California Wildlife Conservation Board: John Donnelly, Director
California Department of Fish & Wildlife: Chuck Bonham, Director
State Coastal Conservancy: Mary Small, Deputy Executive Officer
California Assemblymember Richard Bloom
California Assemblymember Laura Friedman
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
J.P. Rose, Center for Biological Diversity
Cara Lacey, The Nature Conservancy
California State Senator Henry Stern
California State Senator Ben Allen
U.S. Congresswoman Julia Brownley
U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman
U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu
U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff
Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resources
Song break
Collin O'Mara, President & CEO National Wildlife Federation
Wallis Annenberg, Chairman, President & CEO, Annenberg Foundation
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Beth Pratt, Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation
Groundbreaking, shovels
Full video of the event in HD. Updated.
Photos and videos from the groundbreaking of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing April 22, 2022 by Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates. Click photos to see full size. Many more photos are available.
Sign at 101 freeway overpass at Liberty Cann
Sign at trailhead off Liberty Canyon exit off 101 North
101 freeway at Liberty Canyon
R. C. Brody, Richard Brody, California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Beth Pratt, National Wildlife Federation
Ted Lieu
Bridge over gulch to get golf carts to event site
California Department of Fish & Wildlife biologists
P 22 mountain lion
Chris Dellith, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Ventura
