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APRIL 2021
GAVIOTA CULVERT PROJECT WITHDRAWN FROM COASTAL COMMISSION AGENDA
We captured a beautiful male mountain lion on one of our camera traps in Canada del Barro in January of this year. This is the canyon that the Gaviota Culvert is on.

CALTRANS WITHDRAWS GAVIOTA CULVERT PROJECT FROM COASTAL COMMISSION, ENDING OUR APPEAL
 
At the last minute, Caltrans decided to withdraw their Gaviota Culvert Project from consideration by the Coastal Commission. The project has been controversial since May of 2020 when Coastal Ranches Conservancy and the Gaviota Coast Conservancy appealed the County Planning Commission's approval of the project because it did not consider the potential for the new culvert to restrict wildlife from crossing beneath Highway 101. The project was initially rejected by the Board of Supervisors who later abruptly changed their positions and approved it, leaving no alternative but an appeal to the Coastal Commission.

Caltrans has finally acknowledged the very high level of wildlife killed attempting to cross Highway 101 in the area. In discussions with Commission staff and the appellants, Caltrans had agreed to install a larger culvert with a flat floor to accommodate existing wildlife use and even expand that use, so we were surprised to learn of their abandonment of the project. Apparently Caltrans prefers to do more study of the need for wildlife crossings along the Gaviota Coast before proceeding with this project. (See the article below for more on these plans.)

While we are disappointed that the creation of a good wildlife crossing at the Gaviota Culvert is likely many years in the future, we look forward to this study if it will lead to improved crossing opportunities and is not just another plan that doesn't get implemented. We think we have some good ideas about what is needed based on many camera trap surveys we have conducted in the area.
This mountain lion, known as P-64, is emerging from a 500 ft. long culvert under 8 lanes of Highway 101 in the Calabasas area. He crossed Highway 101 successfully four times, more than any other lion has, but died in 2018 as a result of burns suffered in the Woolsey Fire.

CALTRANS TO BEGIN WILDLIFE CROSSING STUDY ON THE GAVIOTA COAST

One of the good outcomes of our efforts to get a wildlife crossing at Canada del Barro has been the increased awareness of the high levels of wildlife killed trying to cross Highway 101. Caltrans has now agreed to conduct a study and develop a master plan of wildlife crossing needs and opportunities along the Gaviota Coast. Mitch Dallas of Caltrans says, "I'm happy to report that the specialized wildlife study is going to be a huge benefit for understanding the local wildlife movement patterns relative to the highway in the Gaviota area. The wildlife study scope and stakeholder group is being developed and should include folks like Coastal Ranches Conservancy and the Gaviota Coast Conservancy, in addition to wildlife crossing experts and others.  The team working on this hopes to get it moving this spring."

This is really good news and we appreciate Caltrans offer to include us in the effort.
REPORT WILDLIFE ROADKILL TO HELP US LOCATE WILDLIFE CROSSING LOCATIONS
 
If you regularly drive Highway 101 along the Gaviota Coast, you have surely seen lots of wildlife roadkill. Put those observations to work by reporting them to the California Roadkill Observation System at 

  wildlifecrossing.net/california/
 
It only takes a minute to log your observation into this system. It is ideal if you can photograph the dead animal but there are very few safe places to pull off on this part of the highway so we don't recommend it. Every roadkill observation added to the database will enhance our understanding of where to provide wildlife crossings on the Gaviota Coast.
Large Southern Steelhead in Arroyo Hondo Creek, 2017
CALTRANS AGREES TO STUDY REMOVAL OF  ALL THE FISH PASSAGE BARRIERS IN GAVIOTA CREEK
 
At a February meeting of all the Gaviota Creek stakeholders, an official hand-off was made to Caltrans of the fish passage engineering work done by our partners South Coast Habitat Restoration (SCHR) and Waterways Engineering Consultants over the past 3 years. Caltrans accepted the responsibility for continuing the project and provided this schedule:
  • Project Initiation Document (PID) will be complete by June 2021
  • Project Approval and Environmental Document (PAED) July 2022 – Dec 2025
  • Project will have a tiered environmental document that addresses all barriers
  • Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) – Begin January 2025
  • Construction 2026 (may require two or more seasons for work)
  • Caltrans is exploring replacing the current Giorgi culvert with a clear span bridge (60’ L x 123’ W)
We are very pleased to see Caltrans step up and agree to include all the barriers in their PID. This will make it a lot easier for groups like Coastal Ranches Conservancy and their partners to move ahead with removing the barriers Caltrans is not addressing.
 
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