![]() Planning is still in the early stages for the crossing, which would be the first such natural bridge built over any freeway in Northern California. We’re trying to build land bridges to connect the Santa Cruz Mountains to the rest of California.” “And what happens on islands is that species can go extinct. “The Santa Cruz Mountains are essentially an island with an ocean to the west and the Bay Area to the east and farmland to the south,” said Bryan Largay, conservation director for the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. The freeway also can block animals from roaming to breed, find food and settle into new habitat areas. That area is a hotspot for wildlife-vehicle collisions that not only rack up roadkill but can injure or kill motorists. (Calvin Duncan/ Institute for Wildlife Studies) ![]() A male lion is captured on one of the trail cameras on Rocks Ranch in San Juan Bautista, Calif. Instead, the group is working on a plan with Caltrans to build a wildlife crossing so that mountain lions, deer, bobcats, badgers, foxes and other animals can traverse four lanes of speeding traffic on Highway 101 without being hit by cars. In December, the nonprofit Land Trust of Santa Cruz County spent $17 million to buy Rocks Ranch, a 2,600-acre property near San Juan Bautista that developers have eyed in recent years for subdivisions, hotels and other projects. A sprawling cattle ranch along Highway 101 near the border of Santa Clara and San Benito County could become home to a unique overpass.
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