Road Ecology Center

Wildlands immediately spearheaded an effort to prioritize, protect, and restore linkages in the South Coast Ecoregion. We first forged a partnership with 15 federal and state agencies, conservation NGOs, universities, county planners, and transportation agencies. By partnering from the start (rather than developing a plan on our own and asking others to “unite under us”), we garnered spectacular support and are making rapid progress. With our partners, we: 1. Selected 15 priority linkages (out of 69 linkages in the ecoregion) on the basis of biological importance (size and quality of core areas served) and vulnerability 2. Held workshops to identify 12 to 20 focal species per linkage 3. Researched the needs of focal species, obtained high-resolution spatial data, and collected field data to develop a linkage design based on GIS analysis of movement of focal species 4. Made detailed recommendations for protecting key habitat parcels, creating highway-crossing structures in specific locations and land-use guidelines in and adjacent to the proposed linkages 5. Presented the design to partners who are now procuring easements and land, changing zoning, restoring habitat, and mitigating transportation projects Arizona began a similar effort in 2004. One key difference is that the southern California effort is led by a small conservation NGO, while the Arizona effort is led by state and federal agencies, including the transportation agencies. The ultimate key to success is to streamline the Linkage Designs into transportation projects, land-use plans, and conservation plans (such as the state Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy). This collaborative, science-based, core-to-core approach promises not merely to slow the rate at which things get worse, but to actually improve connectivity over today’s conditions.