Opinion

Newsom still backing $114M 'bridge to nowhere' for mountain lions and butterflies

From fungi experts to Indigenous seed scouts, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in California has drawn scrutiny over its expanding roster of specialized roles

By Christopher F. Rufo , Kenneth Schrupp City Journal

Published March 27, 2026 7:00am EDT

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In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. At the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had committed $54 million. He promised to "complete the job within another $10 million," before seeming to hedge on whether that final sum would do the trick. Officials projected a 2025 completion date for the overpass, and estimated that the entire project—which includes the bridge and other ancillary developments—would cost $92 million, some of it coming from private philanthropists.

Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass "for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions."

Pratt, a cougar-sweater-wearing environmental activist who serves on WAWC’s Partner Leadership Team, is the program’s public face. She is also a regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation. In 2021, the group received a $25 million grant from "Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation" for the bridge that bears the late philanthropist’s name.

DUFFY MOCKS NEWSOM’S ‘BRIDGES TO NOWHERE’ AS CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CROSSING........

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