![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/planting_on_crossing_2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAGUORA HILLS, Calif. \u2014 \u201cFirst plant on the crossing,\u201d Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation shouted Monday morning as she knelt atop the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.<\/p>\n
She dedicated the first plant she placed to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who she said was an early believer in the project back when it was just the seed of an idea. \u201cFor Leo!\u201d she yelled triumphantly, shaking the dirt from her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably my favorite part of the entire 14 years,\u201d she explained. While much of the Save LA Cougars campaign finds her giving talks or sitting at a computer, this is the moment she\u2019d been awaiting. \u201cIt’s actually getting my hands in the dirt. Best milestone ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, a million hyperlocal seeds were collected from\u00a0within a five-mile radius of the Wallis Annernberg Wildlife Crossing and grown at a nursery set up for this project
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All told, over 6,000 plants representing 30 different species will be transferred to the meticulously crafted soil base that’s made up of multiple layers and enriched with local fungi
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The world’s largest wildlife crossing is expected to be completed in November 2026<\/p>\n
The first planting occurred during Urban Wildlife Week, which will culminate this Saturday with the 10th annual P-22 Day Festival in Griffith Park<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a long and carefully planned road to get here. In 2022, Katherine Pakradouni helped build a native plant nursery specifically for the project. She collected over a million hyperlocal seeds, specifically sourced from within a five-mile radius.<\/p>\n
Those seeds have now grown and matured and are being transferred to the top of what will eventually be the world\u2019s largest wildlife crossing. Jose Campos and Jewlya Samaniego are co-managers of the plant nursery. They beamed over their babies, proudly explaining their favorite species and its attributes. Deer plant. California fuchsia. Purple needlegrass. Samaniego admits it\u2019s bittersweet to see them settle into their new home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, don\u2019t leave. But I know you need to leave,\u201d she laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s like a mommy saying \u2018Bye. And I\u2019m going to come check you later.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
All told, over 6,000 plants representing 30 different species will be transferred to this meticulously crafted soil base, but already they have some company. A cover crop of Santa Barbara Milk Vetch has grown on site over the past few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to kind of get the microorganisms moving,\u201d Campos explained, \u201cget the soil roots established.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also has like cultural traditions within the Chumash for a lot of medicinal purposes,\u201d Samaniego added. \u201cSo it was great to\u2026also reconnect with this plant relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reconnection is what the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is all about \u2014 stitching together a landscape long fragmented by the 101. One result of that fragmentation is a loss of biodiversity that threatens the local mountain lion population.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecreating this habitat across the freeway, it\u2019s hard to put in words what it means,\u201d Pratt said, \u201cbut what it really does mean is these mountain lions and monarch butterflies and all this wildlife is going to have a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Spectrum News\/Tara Lynn Wagner)<\/p>\n
While many of the project\u2019s key players were on hand, including the design team and Caltrans crews, there were two notable absences. One being members of the National Park Service, whose 20-plus year study of the LA area cougars was one of the catalysts for the crossing. Pratt said she was sad and angry that the government shutdown excluded them from marking this milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is shameful that because of the shutdown they are not here to celebrate their hard work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The other keenly felt absence, of course, was Wallis Annenberg, who died just a few months ago. Pratt stressed that without Wallis\u2019 support and vision, the bridge that bears her name would never have gotten off the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough she\u2019s not here physically, she\u2019s here in spirit,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cShe helped do this. This is her legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It’s a legacy that Pratt said will continue to support local wildlife for years to come, just like this budding future habitat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AGUORA HILLS, Calif. \u2014 \u201cFirst plant on the crossing,\u201d Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation shouted Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[70851,179,273,111,139,69,147,70852,70850,8623,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-95710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-app-environment","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-socal-what-you-need-to-know","16":"tag-tara-lynn-wagner","17":"tag-vod","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}