Proposed $87M Wildlife Crossing Will Depend On Private Donations

From CBS Los Angeles:

CHATSWORTH, CA — A proposed wildlife crossing has been in the works for years, but now with engineers in their final design phase one question remains: Who will pay for the $87 million project?

The wildlife crossing will allow animals to safely cross the 101 Freeway, improving genetic diversity. A meeting was held Monday night in Chatsworth to discuss what could be the world’s largest wildlife corridor as plans for the bridge spanning the 101 Freeway enter their final engineering phase.

“We need to connect this habitat across the region for them so they can breed and have genetic diversity,” Beth Pratt, of the National Wildlife Federation, said.

Scientists say that if the bridge northwest of Los Angeles does not get built, Southern California’s mountain lion population could be extinct within 50 years.

Pratt said the project will be privately funded, collecting money through fundraising efforts. The project has already raised $14 million with help from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation.

Read more at CBS Los Angeles