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By Bridget Lyons

May 21, 2024—I am standing on a grassy promontory in Rocks Ranch, a 2,600-acre parcel of land recently acquired by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, taking in my surroundings. I am trying to think like a mountain lion (Puma concolor), one of the approximately 50 individuals that live in our area. I’ve seen the video of one of these majestic felines using the wildlife tunnel under Highway 17, and I’ve seen the Santa Cruz Puma Project’s map of radio collared cats. So, I know they are out here among us.

To the west and north of me lies the concrete ribbon of Highway 101, making an almost 90 degree turn as it enters the iconic eucalyptus grove between Prunedale and Chittenden. Traffic on the road is nearly constant, as is the hum of engine noise—even from my vantage point several hundred feet up on the knoll. To the east, there is another hazard, Highway 156, as well as a patchwork pattern of agricultural fields and the urban areas of San Juan Bautista and Hollister. Even as a human, I feel my species’ landscape “improvements” closing in on me. As a puma, I feel threatened.

To the south, however, I see an expanse of roadless terrain unfolding for miles. This is the Gabilan Mountain Range, and it is the obvious place to roam. Only, Highway 101 and its steady flow of cars run between me and the habitat I require for my hunting and breeding needs.

Despite the dangers of crossing highways, wildlife regularly attempt the feat. They are pushed from one side of a road to another by competition, human development, or changes in their food or water supply. They also move around in their search for mates, a strategy that fosters genetic intermixing—a critical aspect of population health. While we don’t know how many animals successfully navigate our vehicular corridors, we have a good idea of how many don’t. Sadly, roadkill tells the story. In the last five years, three mountain lions and 10 deer have been killed by cars on the section of road I’m looking at. And, of course, these interactions are dangerous for the humans involved in them as well. Assuming we aren’t closing these highways anytime soon, how do we fix this problem?

One solution that has become increasingly popular is the construction of wildlife crossings, human-engineered passageways under or over roads which permit wildlife to safely travel from one habitat zone to another. They range from small culverts designed for amphibians and reptiles to passenger car-sized overpasses built for megafauna like elk, pronghorn antelope—and, in our area, mountain lions, bobcats, badgers, and deer.

Wildlife crossings first appeared in Europe in the middle of the 20th century and quickly became very popular there; the Netherlands alone boasts 66 of them. We here in the US have recently started to catch on and catch up, however. There are 41 wildlife crossing structures on I-93 in Montana, multiple overland bridges in western Wyoming, and an array of overpasses, underpasses, box culverts, and amphibian tunnels throughout California (check out The Wildlands Network’s impressive interactive map and database of our state’s wildlife crossings here). One particularly ambitious one, slated to open in 2025, is the Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in the Santa Monica Mountains. It will provide southern California wildlife with safe passage over Highway 101 near Agoura Hills.

Protecting Mountain Lions And Drivers

In our own neck of the woods, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has become instrumental in creating wildlife crossings as part of their commitment to fostering wildlife connectivity into, out of, and through the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 2022, they unveiled the Highway 17 underpass at Laurel Curve, just south of Summit Road. This project, facilitated through an unprecedented partnership between the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, state agencies, Caltrans, and the Regional Transportation Commission, was 10 years and $12 million in the making.

This effort was driven by two parallel needs: one, the establishment of a safe highway crossing for wildlife (especially mountain lions, who have recently exhibited a sign of inbreeding—kinked tails), and two, the prevention of vehicle-animal collisions for human safety. In the 10 years prior to the opening of the underpass, 20 mountain lions and 95 deer were killed at Laurel Curve. One hour after the opening of the underpass, a bobcat was seen using it. And I am just one of thousands of people who was captivated by the December 2023 video of a puma loping almost casually through the tunnel. When I go to YouTube to watch it again, I smile at the creature’s nonchalance; it’s like they have used a human-made crossing a million times, like they know that by doing so they’re about to go viral.

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County’s success with the Laurel Curve project has equipped them to facilitate additional wildlife crossings in key locations. Next on the docket is a crossing here at Rocks Ranch, which is why they have invited me, along with a host of local land trust employees and interested parties, out to see the land–one of the field trips offered as part of TOGETHER Bay Area's 2024 Conference.

Bryan Largay, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County’s Conservation Director, explains to the group that the property was purchased in 2020 with assistance from the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and California Department of Conservation. It consists of 2600 acres of grassland, oak savannah, oak woodland, and riparian woodland—a combination which, on this day in early May, is showing its classic California Coast face. The rolling green hills are dotted with wildflowers. Live oaks punctuate the meadows, adding texture and shade to the sun-baked landscape.

It is beautiful, but that’s not what makes it important. Much of its value lies in its location. Rocks Ranch sits at a critical pinch point at the far northern tip of the Gabilan Mountains, where this range abuts the southern tip of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not only is the area vulnerable to development—at one point, the property was slated to have multiple hotels, lodges, and residences built on it—but it is also the critical linkage between these two important habitat zones. “The Santa Cruz Mountains are almost like an island,” Bryan explains. “And islands are where extinctions happen.” Without the movement of individual breeding animals to diversify the gene pool, populations collapse. The population collapse scientists are most worried about right now is the mountain lion’s; however, concern about the badger exists as well, as it thrives in home ranges of at least 3000 acres.

Not only does biodiversity make our planet a wondrous place, but it’s also key to climate resilience. Biodiversity is maintained by healthy populations, which are maintained by genetic exchange. Genetic exchange is maintained by the movement of wildlife, which can only occur if we have connected landscapes. Where we humans have severed those connections, we must rebuild them. And that’s what the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and its partners are planning to do here at Rocks Ranch.Together with Caltrans District 5, they are designing project alternatives that range from multiple underpasses to a 120-150 foot-long, 20-40 foot-wide vegetated overpass from the ranch property to the land on the other side of Highway 101. Fencing will run for several miles on both sides of the road in order to funnel animals towards the crossing. In addition, existing culverts under the highway will be cleaned out, restored, and made into viable underpasses. As Bryan points out each crossing’s location, I try to maintain my mountain lion mindset, overlaying an earthen ramp upon the landscape and watching for some of my smaller prey—coyotes, raccoons, small rodents—as they descend towards tunnels too small for my body.

After leaving the grassy viewpoint where I felt the choke of human infrastructure, we stop to look at one of the nine ponds on the property. Bryan’s talk is interrupted by a golden eagle soaring above us, casting a shadow over an adjacent hillside. A wildlife biologist tells the group that he has seen three rare birds in the last hour and that burrowing owls are found on the land. Bryan reminds us that vulnerable California red-legged frogs and western pond turtles can be found in the body of water we’re looking at, and he describes the badger and puma sightings that have occurred on the property over the last few months. Clearly, this is a healthy landscape—and one that is poised to become even healthier as the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County continues to learn about its needs and manage it with habitat improvement in mind.

Before leaving, I ask Bryan when he thinks the 101 overpass might be completed. “2030,” he says. “Which is not that far off.”

Mountain lions only live to be about 13 years old. So, as I step into my puma perspective once more before leaving the ranch, I can’t be sure if I will have the chance to stride confidently and safely over that intimidating concrete ribbon during my lifetime. But I can hope that my children will. They will roam over greater distances than I have, mixing with other members of our species as we have for generations—provided that all of the human players in the game continue to value us.

Visit the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County website to learn more about Rocks Ranch Wildlife Crossing.

Bridget Lyons is a writer and editor living in Santa Cruz. To learn more about her work and explorations, visit www.bridgetalyons.com.