New Law Tackles State Highways as Barriers to Habitat Connectivity
Midpen was a primary supporter of Senate Bill 1250, which enhances habitat connectivity by tasking Caltrans with tracking highway wildlife barriers and generating a supplemental list of connectivity improvements. Thanks to advocacy from Senator Dave Cortese, bill sponsor The Nature Conservancy, and a robust coalition of conservation partners, Governor Newsom signed SB 1250 into law. Midpen's General Manager Ana María Ruiz joined Senator Cortese next to Highway 17 to advocate for this critical legislation.
More than 75,000 drivers use Highway 17 every day, cutting directly through critical wildlife corridors. Since 2017, 19 mountain lions have been killed along a 20-mile stretch of Highway 17 — nearly half within this specific zone near Lexington Reservoir where Midpen is planning a wildlife undercrossing structure.
Without safe passage, our local wildlife, mountain lions in particular, are trapped on shrinking islands of habitat, losing vital mountain genetic diversity because they cannot safely cross heavily traveled roads to find food, shelter and mates. Earlier this year, mountain lions on the Central Coast, which includes the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Southern California were listed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) as threatened in the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
SB 1250 establishes a systematic framework for Caltrans to track and prioritize wildlife infrastructure, paving the way for crossings to be planned more strategically alongside routine highway projects. Additionally, the bill connects local wildlife crossing initiatives to statewide infrastructure planning, requiring Caltrans to explicitly tie its supplemental list of wildlife connectivity improvements to the performance metrics tracked in its master State Highway System Management Plan.
This framework directly supports regional efforts like Midpen’s upcoming Highway 17 Wildlife Crossing, which is currently in its final design and fundraising stages near a documented wildlife mortality hotspot. The project, which also includes a separate trail crossing over the highway for pedestrians, was recently awarded $4 million by the California State Coastal Conservancy.
“By treating wildlife crossings as core infrastructure, SB 1250 ensures that projects like Midpen’s Highway 17 Wildlife Crossing can continue to protect Bay Area drivers and species like our threatened local mountain lion population for years to come,” shares Midpen General Manager Ana Ruiz.
Learn More & Watch Coverage
- Find more details on our major wildlife corridor initiative here: Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossings Project.
- Watch the local media coverage and learn more about the critical need for a crossing near Lexington Reservoir via the ABC7 News Broadcast (press conference coverage begins at 31:53).
Thank you to Senator Cortese for his visionary leadership, and to all the partners working to ensure that the wildlife and people of California can safely coexist and thrive.