Los Angeles lawmakers have voted to draft new development restrictions that would maintain a “wildlife corridor” in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, making sure that new developments in the area won’t cut mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats and other animals off from part of their habitats. City staff will write the new rules, which would require new building projects in the area to undergo a “habitat connectivity” review, restrict deeds to permanently protect those connections, and block the city from issuing building or grading permits in the area until they’re assured development plans won’t block wildlife from crossing. While this is about restricting construction to ensure existing natural pathways rather than building anything new, it’s somewhat reminiscent of a plan famed L.A.-based actor and nature aficionado Nick Offerman once espoused on The West Wing:
Fortunately, this plan should cost a lot less than the “only $900 million” proposed in that clip, and it won’t require the mountain lions to be able to follow road signs. These kinds of wildlife corridors aren’t exactly unknown, either; several examples both small and large have been created over the years, and while there’s still debate over just how effective they are, the idea doesn’t seem bad; the requirements for space here likely won’t be huge, with city councilor Paul Koretz (who championed the plan) saying “These are relatively modest changes to the planning code that will make a massive difference to the health of our bobcats and mountain lions and raccoons and other animals.” The idea has also received support from both environmental and neighborhood groups, and there are plenty of mountain lions around this area, including famed Griffith Park resident P-22. Koretz even singled him out specifically:
“We want to be certain that P-22 can get around, meet P-23 and have P-24.”
As long as these corridors don’t lead to schools, such as the high school in L.A. neighborhood Granada Hills a mountain lion visited last Friday, this just might work out okay.