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\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n
Pratt, a cougar-sweater-wearing environmental activist who serves on WAWC\u2019s Partner Leadership Team, is the program\u2019s 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\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
DUFFY MOCKS NEWSOM\u2019S \u2018BRIDGES TO NOWHERE\u2019 AS CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CROSSING OVERRUNS BY $21M<\/a><\/p>\n That money apparently was not enough. This past January, donning a hard hat and a “#SAVELACOUGARS” jersey, Pratt announced a possible $21 million overage. She effectively blamed President Trump, attributing the multimillion-dollar overrun<\/a> to “tariffs, inflation, [and] labor problems.”<\/p>\n “There\u2019s no boondoggle,” she said. “Given the times we\u2019re living in,” a potential $21 million overage is “not that bad.”<\/p>\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on during a bill signing event related to redrawing the state\u2019s congressional maps on Aug. 21, 2025, in Sacramento, California.\u00a0 (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n In response to our request for comment on the cost increases, Pratt argued that they were consistent with those faced by other construction projects.<\/p>\n Why has a project primarily consisting of a bridge for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC\u2019s philanthropic supporters apparently don\u2019t mind it becoming a patronage program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within days of Pratt\u2019s announcement, the California Transportation Commission funneled another $18.8 million to the project, well exceeding the governor\u2019s $10 million cap. The project\u2019s total price tag now reaches about $114 million, reportedly including some $77 million in state funds<\/a>. Newsom\u2019s office pointed us to a press release in response to our request for comment.<\/p>\n GOP CANDIDATE CITES \u2018FAILURE\u2019 OF NEWSOM, DEMS AS NEW POLL SHOWS REPUBLICANS LEADING CROWDED CALIFORNIA FIELD<\/a><\/p>\n Why has a project primarily consisting of a bridge for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC\u2019s philanthropic supporters apparently don\u2019t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-endorsing Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, citing the California Department of Transportation\u2019s estimate, “for every $1 billion spent” on wildlife crossings, “13,000 jobs are created.”<\/p>\n Some of these jobs are absurd. The National Wildlife Federation\u2019s WAWC website claims that “[o]ur Native Plant Nursery<\/a>“\u2014apparently funded by the nonprofit SAMO Fund and other “partners”\u2014”has prioritized hiring Indigenous team members to help steward the plants that will vegetate the bridge.” The nursery\u2019s co-manager said she makes an “offering” after collecting seeds, sometimes including pieces of her hair.<\/p>\n Or consider the ways one of the nursery workers and her associates have spent their time. The nursery\u2019s founding manager worked with “helpers and volunteers” to “seed scout[]” across the Santa Monica Mountains. Her associates on the “design team” received “feedback from all the various project partners”\u2014including state and federal bureaucrats\u2014for their plant list.<\/p>\n CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT\u2019S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US<\/a><\/p>\n A group of experts apparently adds to the operation\u2019s expense. A fungi whiz, Pratt says, worked as a WAWC habitat designer, periodically scrutinizing root samples under a microscope. A contracted soil scientist said his process involves assessing local dirt to “rebuild it . . . as close to nature as possible.”<\/p>\n One reason California supposedly needs this overpass is to ensure the safety and genetic diversity of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, where only about a dozen non-kitten cougars live at any given time. While bridge proponents claim that the local mountain lion population<\/a> could otherwise face extinction, researchers suggest the bridge is not the only solution to ensure their survival.<\/p>\n JONATHAN TURLEY: GRANDSTANDING NEWSOM WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO RIDE THE RAILS TO GLORY IN 2028<\/a><\/p>\n According to a 2016 paper published by the Royal Society, the mountain lion population living in and around the Santa Monica Mountains is “demographically vigorous.” Still, the paper argues, the population could face “rapid extinction” if it becomes less genetically diverse.<\/p>\n The Newsom administration projects a $2.9 billion budget deficit for 2026\u20132027. The state legislature\u2019s nonpartisan fiscal advisor had published steeper estimates and claimed the deficit could rise to $35 billion in coming years. (Amy Sussman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n While bridge proponents have cited this study, the researchers say adding just one new mountain lion to the population per generation was apparently sufficient to reduce extinction risk. If Newsom and the philanthropists were really interested in protecting these lions, $114 million could likely fund translocations for thousands of years.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION<\/a><\/p>\n At the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom envisioned WAWC as a catalyst for the construction of wildlife crossings across the state. California, he boasted, set aside $105 million “to replicate projects like this all up and down the state.” Pratt reportedly thinks “hundreds more crossings are needed.”<\/p>\n Californians can\u2019t afford it. The Newsom administration projects a $2.9 billion budget deficit<\/a> for 2026\u20132027. The state legislature\u2019s nonpartisan fiscal advisor had published steeper estimates and claimed the deficit could rise to $35 billion in coming years.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n If the state wants to fund a nine-figure overpass project for animals, it should turn to the Annenberg Foundation, which holds $1.27 billion in net assets. (The foundation did not respond to our request for comment.) California taxpayers shouldn\u2019t have to spend another cent. Gavin Newsom, unfortunately, seems committed to bankrolling what for now is a multimillion-dollar bridge to nowhere<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kenneth Schrupp is an investigative reporter at City Journal.<\/p>\n This opinion article was first published in City Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774610774_47_gavin-newsom.jpg\")
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