Mary Cummins Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Advocates News Los Angeles California

Friday, April 22, 2022

Groundbreaking for Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Los Angeles, California by Mary Cummins Animal Advocates News

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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

Red Carpet area

101 freeway at Liberty Canyon

Looking toward 101 freeway

101 freeway at Liberty Canyon

Looking toward the 101 freeway at Liberty Canyon

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates

101 freeway at Liberty Canyon

101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon

Below are a few interviews from the event.

Chris Dellith, Senior Fish & Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

R.C. Brody, Richard Brody, California Department of Fish & Wildlife

Jeff Sikich, National Park Service

More photos and videos will be posted shortly. They're being edited.

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Animal Advocates Celebrates Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing on Earth Day

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Earth Day 2022 theme is "Invest in Our Planet." Today we celebrate the investment of time and resources by many people and organizations in today's groundbreaking of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Los Angeles, California.

The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a planned vegetated overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills, California. The bridge will be one of the largest urban wildlife crossings in the United States, connecting the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains over a busy freeway with ten traffic lanes.

The crossing is critical for the wildlife populations indigenous to the Santa Monica Mountains. The Ventura Freeway has acted as a barrier in the wildlife corridor between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. This has caused the Santa Monica Mountains wildlife and mountain lion populations to become genetically isolated. Bobcats, coyotes, deer, wren tits, fence lizards and other wildlife will also greatly benefit from the crossing.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates stated "We are incredibly thankful for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. While most mountain lions are killed by depredation permits, intraspecific conflict, and rat poison the crossing will greatly help mountain lions and wildlife for many years to come. We're happy to celebrate the wildlife crossing on Earth Day and the 20th anniversary of Animal Advocates."

Organizations involved: Caltrans, The Annenberg Foundation, Santa Monica Mountains Fund, California Coastal Commission, California Wildlife Conservation Board, Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, National Wildlife Federation, California Department of Fish & Wildlife and more.

Animal Advocates: (http://www.animaladvocates.us) Animal Advocates, a non-profit organization founded in 2002, rescues ill, injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild in Los Angeles, California. Animal Advocates also provides animal education and humane wildlife control. Mary Cummins is the President.

Wallis Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation: (http://www.annenberg.org) The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation established in 1989. The Foundation supports the worldwide community through its grantmaking and direct charitable activities. Wallis Annenberg is the Chairman of the Board and CEO.

Mary Cummins

Friday, March 25, 2022

Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills to Break Ground April 22, 2022 by Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

The $87 million wildlife crossing planned in Agoura Hills is about to become a reality.

The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife crossing will break ground on what will eventually be the world's largest wildlife crossing on April 22, which is also Earth Day.

The crossing is designed to become a safe passage for wildlife to cross above the eight lanes of the busy 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills. Construction will commence this summer, and is expected to be completed sometime next year.

The population of the Santa Monica Mountains' native mountain lions, particularly the famous photo of P-22 with the Hollywood Sign in the background in Griffith Park, were an inspiration for the bridge's inception. Just this week, a young mountain lion that had just become part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area's long-ranging mountain lion study was struck and killed by a car on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu — the latest in a string of mountain lions who have died while trying explore beyond the boundaries set by busy roadways.

The Santa Monica Mountains falls within one of just 36 "biodiversity hotspots" worldwide and is only one of two in the continental U.S., so the wildlife crossing re-establish a key connection to open space in the Simi Hills, and possibly further into the Santa Susana Mountains or Angeles National Forest.

Wallis Annenberg of the Annenberg Foundation is the major sponsor of the Wildlife Crossing.

GPS location. 34.137941951593284, -118.72807376595853 Closest address is 27571 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 extending North over the 101 freeway. The below map is 27571 Agoura Rd.

Mary Cummins

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Interesting new contraception for rats. May be interesting for feral cats?

A new rat control product came out called ContraPest. ContraPest uses 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide which is a model chemical for ovotoxicity. It keeps female rats from getting pregnant. They suggest using it along with poison and not as a stand alone. I'd love to see their research used by itself. It sounds like something that might be good with feral cat colonies. Obviously not used with poison, just as birth control. The price appears affordable.

Below is the product label.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0255/4986/5032/files/ContraPest_Insert_Label_03252021.pdf?v=1619021143

I just Googled animal contraception. There are many products out there today. Amazing that Dr Gary Michelson, Found Animals Foundation and his $75,000,000 Prize were never able to find or develop a product. This proves that the Prize was just a way for Gary Michelson to get people to want to beg him for money. He started the Prize around 2006 or so. It's been 16 years. I remember when he said in December 2006 that he would solve the pet overpopulation problem. I really thought he could do it. He didn't even try to fix it. Failure.

Mary Cummins

Monday, January 17, 2022

No Betty White Challenge because White supported keeping wildlife in zoos - Animal Advocates

elephant, gita, los angeles zoo, betty white, betty white challenge, animal advocates, inhumane, captivity, sanctuary, los angeles, california, mary cummins Wikipedia image. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gita_elephant.jpg

Many animal groups are doing the "Betty White Challenge" today asking for money to honor Betty White's love of animals on what would be her 100th birthday. We are not. The reason is because White supported keeping wildlife in zoos. She actively worked to keep elephants in the LA Zoo instead of sending them to a willing elephant sanctuary. During that time 13 elephants died in the LA Zoo from captivity related ailments. Some died from foot ailments such as Gita pictured below because they didn't have enough room to roam on softer ground. We are thankful for Betty White's love and support of other animals, racial injustice and LGBTQ rights. Photo: Gita elephant who died in LA Zoo from Wikipedia.

#bettywhitechallenge #bettywhite #losangeleszoo #lazoo #elephant #billy #ruby #gita #tara #dead #captivity #sanctuary

Mary Cummins

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Beneath the Surface: Examining Triggers of Harmful Algak Blooms - Marine Mammal Care, Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins

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Thursday, December 2nd at 6 pm, you'll learn from Dr. Jayme Smith, Senior Scientist at Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Dr. Smith will discuss triggers of harmful algal blooms (HABs), their environmental impacts in the southern California bight, and their impacts on local marine life including pinnipeds. Hosted by Marine Mammal Care.

Very educational power point presentation by Dr. Jayme Smith. She presented her research on harmful algal blooms which has been killing local marine mammals. We know about the horrible impact of these algal blooms as we get the calls for stranded and dying seals, sea lions and other marine mammals.

A few slides from the presentation. I highly recommend this program.

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