Alameda County — The Alameda County Resource Conservation District (RCD), in partnership with the University of California Davis, plans to protect wildlife in the East Bay by building three wildlife crossings throughout the county’s Diablo Range.
RCD will apply for $3 million to $5 million in funding from the state Wildlife Conservation Board to develop a planning report with conceptual design plans for crossings over Interstate 580, Interstate 680 and State Route 84.
“This kind of funding has not been very available in the past, so this is a new era for California to be catching up with other states on wildlife crossing development and construction,” said RCD Chief Executive Officer Katherine Boxer at the Jan. 20 Altamont Landfill Open Space Committee (ALOSC) meeting.
Should the team receive the funding, it expects project design to be completed by 2026 and construction done by 2030, said Fraser Shilling, director of the UC Davis Road Ecology Center.
ALOSC, which has previously hired RCD to provide consulting services in support of its mandate to preserve native biological diversity and wildlife habitat, will provide a letter of support for RCD’s grant application.
The committee voted unanimously, with Chair Shawn Wilson absent and Pleasanton Councilmember Valerie Arkin standing in for Pleasanton Councilmember Jeff Nibert, to draft and send the letter.
The offices of Alameda County supervisors Nate Miley and David Haubert have already sent their letters of support, said Boxer.
Shilling said that ongoing monitoring projects throughout the Tri-Valley, conducted by RCD at the request of ALOSC, will help improve the district’s case for the funding.
“One of the most important parts of (those projects) has been recent demonstration of where species are occurring and also where they’re not occurring next to the highway,” he continued. “That’s really critical, because it’s hard to justify (to) the state to build multi-million dollar crossing structures without knowing what’s going on at the highway in terms of wildlife movement and wildlife occurrence.”
While WCB prioritizes projects that reduce animal-highway fatalities, increased wildlife connectivity also serves to maintain healthy genetic diversity in the area.
Douglas Bell, wildlife program manager with the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), explained to The Independent how increased development in the Bay Area has risked wildlife isolation and hampered genetic flow, surrounding natural areas with human development which animals are reluctant to cross.
Wildlife crossings that provide safe and relatively inviting passage across highways therefore allow animals to combine adjacent natural areas to form larger spaces and interact with more individuals. EBRPD, independently of RCD, also keeps connectivity in mind when evaluating land acquisitions.
“One of our ideas has been to hook up as many park units to make it make sense,” said Bell.
After securing funding, RCD will next pinpoint crossing locations and conduct feasibility studies prior to project kickoff.
