MDLT receives $512,000 toward design of two wildlife crossings for Highway 62
The Coachella Valley Mountain Conservancy has awarded the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) a “Proposition 4 Local Assistance Planning Grant” to help advance two proposed wildlife crossings. The non-profit land trust is leading the planning for the project which aims to reduce wildlife deaths on the busy highway by connecting the lands in Joshua Tree National Park with other protected areas like the Sand to Snow Monument, San Gorgonio Wilderness and the San Bernardino National Forest.
The MDLT says that the 512,000 grant will support the planning, coordination, and technical analysis needed to prepare the wildlife crossings for construction.
Those funds are in addition to the $5.5 million dollars in grant funding that was awarded to the land trust from California’s Wildlife Conservation Board, along with $100,000 from Caltrans District 8. The MDLT says those funds will bring the design phase of the project to 65% completion.
The proposed crossings are planned to blend in with adjacent natural areas with an “earthen base” that will be populated by native plants to make the crossing appear like the natural habitat of desert fauna, allowing wildlife to safely cross the busy state route.
In the MDLT’s Press Release, Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy Elizabeth King says that “Protecting wildlife movement corridors is essential to maintaining healthy desert ecosystems” and that “This planning effort represents an important step toward improving both ecological connectivity and public safety along a heavily traveled transportation corridor. For those of us in the Valley, it is particularly critical for protecting our mountain lions and bighorn sheep.”
In April of this year, an 18-month-old mountain lion died after being struck by a vehicle while crossing from the San Bernardino Mountains side of the highway towards Joshua Tree National Park. The MDLT says that the lion was part of the San Gabriel-San Bernardino Mountains population that was listed in February under the California Endangered Species Act.
You can learn more about the MDLT-led wildlife crossing project at their website.