Environmentalists for decades have been working to create a six-mile wildlife corridor to help bobcats, foxes, raccoons, birds and mountain lions transit from thousands of acres of open space at the coast to the Santa Ana Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest. Now, they are hopeful a final barrier to the plan can soon be eliminated.
The Irvine-Laguna Wildlife Corridor project aims to connect 20,000 acres of coastal open space to the more than 150,000 acres of wilderness around the Santa Ana Mountains, including Cleveland National Forest, Whiting Ranch and Limestone Canyon. The corridor is a strip of habitat that traverses a highly urbanized section of Irvine with a series of underpasses below the 5 Freeway, making it non-contiguous.
Work on the corridor, led by environmental nonprofit Laguna Greenbelt, includes completing the corridor’s biggest obstacles: a series of tunnels under the 5 Freeway near Bake Parkway and Lake Forest Drive that scientific data shows most animals have been reluctant to pass through. This has impacted some animal species like bobcats, coyotes and deer through inbreeding.
If the corridor — essentially a road for wildlife — is completed, experts say, it will enrich the gene pool and revive species. Removing the obstacles could require engineering studies and ultimately a bridge that would give the animals unimpeded access.
The environmental group has completed several studies on the corridor’s viability over the decades. Most recently, Norm Grossman, the group’s president, said a study was done in partnership with the San Diego Natural History Museum that found that adding light and shelving along the sides of the tunnels so animals could avoid water could be helpful.
While work has yet to begin on those tunnels, environmental experts say a recent nod from a group working with the state will bolster efforts to enhance the corridor.
Gov. Gavin Newsom set a goal in 2020 to preserve 30% of the state’s land and…
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