Two wildlife crossings proposed by MDLT with support from Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Two wildlife crossings are being proposed for Hwy 62 at the western end of the Morongo Basin at the Yucca and Morongo grades. The proposals are being spearheaded by the Mojave Desert Land Trust, with a support letter for funding signed by the board at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve.
A wildlife crossing is a bridge-like structure that enables animals to safety traverse human-made barricades like roads or fences, creating a free-roaming path that’s crucial to maintain biodiversity and to prevent animal and human deaths due to vehicle collisions. Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Executive Director Kevin Wong says these proposed wildlife crossings for the Yucca and Morongo grades have been on a priority list from the Bureau of Land Management since Morongo Valley is a substantial wildlife corridor, with the highway separating the Preserve from the San Gorgonio Mountains.
“(This would allow) the wildlife to get to the other side into the San Gorgonio mountains and vice versa. The Letter of Support talks about how there are two populations of mountain lions that are isolated by the cutoff of Hwy 62 due to those concrete dividers and the amount of traffic and the two populations really need to cross and interbreed, otherwise we’re creating isolation amongst the genetic structure and they could die out,” said Wong.
Wong said on the morning of Sunday, July 20, he received a call about a vehicle collision with a bear in Morongo Valley on Rawson, killing the animal and doing significant damage to the vehicle.
“We’ve had lots of black bears get hit on this highway over the years, we’ve had several bobcats… We have many large mammals that cross the highway. The day that I signed this document, which was July 11, I was coming down the hill and I saw a deer carcass on the side of the road. From my point of view and from our board’s point of view––because the board agreed to sign this letter of support––there needs to be some way for wildlife to make a move from this direction to that direction and that direction back safely, if possible.”
Wong added that MDLT is getting businesses to sign onto the Letter of Support before they start approaching individuals to join the campaign to seek State funds for these two wildlife crossing projects.
Additional links:
World’s largest wildlife crossing on track to open by early 2026
