Species and Sprawl: A Road Runs Through It

Species and Sprawl: Mountain Lions

It’s possible that the young male cougars could seek genetically novel mates in the Simi Hills and beyond by crossing 101 where the scrubby foothills dip slightly, a spot called Liberty Canyon. Here, an underpass exists for a 1.6 m wide drainage culvert and a two-lane road that leads, eventually, to a housing development. Save for an office park and a few other buildings, the vista on both sides of the canyon is natural—a virtue that makes Liberty Canyon one of the two remaining likely animal exits out of the Santa Monicas. P1 and P2 are tracked regularly (once an hour at times), but they have yet to cross over or under 101. P3, a young male who prowls the Simi Hills, has not crossed from the north side of this freeway, either. 

Los Padres or Bust!

As with turtles, the loss of a few individuals can significantly harm entire populations of big predators, since they live longer and reproduce less than most animals do. While scientists remain unclear about exactly what ecological effects a significant loss of cougars could have on the California chapparal community, most scientists agree that animals near the top of the food chain play an important role in biological communities—and in conservation. “Big predators represent the ultimate challenge,” notes Riley. “If we’re able to conserve enough land for them, we’ll potentially be able to conserve most things in their habitat. Plus, big predators are a powerful symbol of wilderness and effective stewardship of lands.”

For these reasons, “the mountain lion is a focal species in every one of our 15 linkages,” says Kristeen Penrod, executive director of South Coast Wildlands, which manages the Missing Linkages effort. Right now, the project is collaborating with the National Park Service, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Nature Conservancy, and other private and public groups to make Liberty Canyon navigable by lions, deer, bobcats, and other species. The linkage’s first priority, securing the slopes on either side of the canyon from further development and revegetating bare spots, has already been accomplished. In the future, Caltrans may widen and vegetate part of the 101 underpass for both vehicular and quadruped use, install a vegetated land bridge over the highway, or both. Similar suggestions are being considered to enhance connectivity along each link of the entire fragmented land chain from the Santa Monicas to Los Padres National Forest.

“If all 15 of Southern California’s priority linkages were protected, we’d really have the backbone of a regional conservation strategy in place,” says Penrod. “Our project partners want to see our methods used throughout the rest of the state.” Or, perhaps, the nation. In its wildest dreams, the Wildlands Project, a national group working throughout the continent, hopes to reconnect a 6,500 km swath of land along the Rocky Mountains from Canada’s Yukon through Mexico’s northern Sierra Madre. While it’s unlikely that the mountain lion will ever regain its historic range, which was once nearly all of North and South America, getting it safely across the street is, at least, a start.

Print friendly format