Friedman Bill to Protect Wildlife and Communities Passes

Sacramento, CA– 39 million Californians rely on a vast web of freeways to move to and fro. But California’s unchecked development is eating away at the land our wildlife depends upon to find food, shelter, and unrelated mates. In the Santa Monica Mountains, vehicles are killing mountain lions faster than they can breed. Nationwide, there are nearly 2 million automobile collisions involving wildlife, resulting in 200 human deaths and 26,000 injuries annually, and $8 billion in property damage every single year. The simple fact is: wildlife deaths are preventable; they simply require urban planning that takes wildlife into account. Assembly Bill 1889, authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Burbank) does just that. AB 1889 passed the California Legislature 57-16 with bipartisan support.

“Many cities and counties have allowed the expansion of development in connectivity areas without considering its impact on wildlife. With better planning from the start, we can protect our biodiversity and improve safety for all residents," said Assemblymember Laura Friedman. “Preserving wildlife connectivity and restoring degraded habitat and open space also helps ensure that all Californians have equitable opportunities to experience the physical and mental health benefits of nature.”

“California has more threatened and endangered species than any other state,” said Mari Galloway, California director at the Wildlands Network. “AB 1889 is a critical tool to help our biodiversity through bridging the gap between local land-use and wildlife habitat needs.”

There is some progress in the United States and California when it comes to preventing animal deaths on our roadways. California is building the largest contiguous animal crossing in the country in Agoura Hills right now. The Wyoming Department of Transportation recently constructed two wildlife overpasses and six underpasses. The results were nearly immediate: tens of thousands of animals use the new crossings and vehicle collisions dropped by an astounding 80%. Colorado saw similar results when it started planning wildlife connectivity corridors. Colorado saw its animal collisions drop by 90%. A cost benefit analysis of the Colorado wildlife corridors found that due to the decreased property damage, healthcare costs, and reduced need for public services due to the drop in collisions, the crossings would pay for themselves in twenty years.

Every highway overpass currently being built is desperately needed, but highways are not alone in imperiling wildlife. Suburban neighborhoods pose their own unique threats to wildlife. Every year during turtle hatching season, beachside communities work to round up baby turtles that instead of swimming toward the ocean, find themselves on neighborhood roadways. That’s because the lights glinting from houses confuses them. Scientists think turtles mistake the house lights and streetlights for the moon reflecting off water and go the wrong way.

In many communities adjacent to open land, fencing poses a hazard. According to one estimate by the New York Times, the American West has 620,000 miles of fencing, both in neighborhoods and throughout our wilderness areas due to cattle grazing. One UC Berkeley study found that the length of fencing around the world exceeds that of roads by an order of magnitude. We’re all so accustomed to fencing that we don’t even notice it. And nearly none of them are wildlife friendly.

All of these things have one thing in common: we didn’t plan around wildlife. Unless we change our planning process going forward, humans and wildlife are going to continue to come into conflict.

AB 1889 helps protect California wildlife and climate resilience by establishing a state policy that requires local governments to consider and implement measures to protect and improve wildlife connectivity through land use planning. It would require local governments to consider and minimize impacts to wildlife movement and habitat connectivity as part of the conservation element of their general plan Mitigation measures will vary depending upon the wildlife being affected. AB 1889 though is widely expected to result in animal crossings, wildlife safe fencing, reclaimed land or water, modified lighting and more. Whatever the physical intervention made, AB 1889 ensures that wildlife are carefully considered and accounted for as development occurs.

Laura Friedman represents 44th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles, as well as the communities of La Crescenta, Lake View Terrace, Montrose, North Hollywood, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks, Sunland-Tujunga, Studio City, Toluca Lake, and Valley Village.