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
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Mary Cummins speaks with R.C. Brody, Richard Brody a Senior Environmental Scientist of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife about the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, mountain lions and protecting native California wildlife.
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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
Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, Animal Advocates, Liberty Canyon, Wildlife Crossing, Los Angeles, California, Agoura Hills, groundbreaking, mountain lion, cougar, Mary Cummins, Wallis Annenberg, 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
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."
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
