In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a wildlife overpass project atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. During the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had pledged $54 million. He promised to “finish the job in another ten million dollars,” before appearing to doubt whether that final amount would be enough. Officials projected a 2025 completion date for the viaduct and estimated the entire project — including the bridge and other ancillary developments — would cost $92 million, some of which would come from private philanthropists.
Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is already overdue and the project is about $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has turned into a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers being blamed for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass “for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.”
Pratt, an environmental activist who wears a cougar jersey and is a member of WAWC’s Partner Leadership Team, is the public face of the program. She is also 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.
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Apparently that money wasn’t enough. Last January, wearing a hard hat and a “#SAVELACOUGARS” jersey, Pratt announced a potential $21 million overage. She essentially blamed President Trump, attributing the multimillion-dollar overrun to “tariffs, inflation, [and] labor problems.”
“There’s no joking involved,” she said. “Given the times we live in,” a potential $21 million overrun is “not that bad.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on during a bill signing event related to redrawing the state’s congressional maps on August 21, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
In response to our request for comment on the cost increases, Pratt argued that they were consistent with those of other construction projects.
Why did a project consisting mainly of a bridge for animals cost more than $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC’s philanthropic supporters apparently don’t mind it becoming a patronage program.
Within days of Pratt’s announcement, the California Transportation Commission funneled another $18.8 million into the project, easily exceeding the governor’s $10 million cap. The project’s total price tag now stands at about $114 million, which reportedly includes about $77 million in state funds. Newsom’s office referred us to a press release in response to our request for comment.
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Why did a project consisting mainly of a bridge for animals cost more than $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC’s philanthropic supporters apparently don’t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-endorsing Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, citing the California Department of Transportation’s estimate, “for every $1 billion spent” on wildlife crossings, “13,000 jobs are created.”
Some of these jobs are absurd. The National Wildlife Federation’s WAWC website claims that “[o]ur Native Plant Nursery” — apparently funded by the nonprofit SAMO Fund and other “partners” — “has prioritized hiring native team members to help manage the plants that will cover the bridge.” The nursery co-manager said she makes an “offering” after collecting seeds, sometimes including bits of her hair.
Or consider the ways in which one of the daycare centers and its staff spent their time. The nursery’s founding manager worked with ‘helpers and volunteers’ to ‘explore seeds'[]across the Santa Monica Mountains. Her “design team” staff got “feedback from all the different project partners” — including state and federal bureaucrats — for their plant list.
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A group of experts is apparently increasing the cost of the operation. A fungal wonder, says Pratt, worked as WAWC’s habitat designer and periodically examined 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.”
One reason California supposedly needs this flyover is to ensure the safety and genetic diversity of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, where only a dozen non-kitten cougars live at any given time. Although bridge proponents argue that the local mountain lion population could otherwise face extinction, researchers suggest that the bridge is not the only solution to ensure their survival.
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According to a 2016 article published by the Royal Society, the population of mountain lions living in and around the Santa Monica Mountains is “demographically robust.” Still, the article states that the population could face “rapid extinction” if it becomes less genetically diverse.
The Newsom administration projects a budget deficit of $2.9 billion for the 2026-2027 period. The state legislature’s nonpartisan budget adviser had released sharper estimates, claiming the deficit could reach $35 billion in coming years. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Although bridge proponents have cited this study, the researchers say that adding just one new mountain lion to the population per generation was apparently enough to reduce the risk of extinction. If Newsom and the philanthropists were truly interested in protecting these lions, $114 million could likely fund translocations for thousands of years.
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During the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom envisioned WAWC as a catalyst for the state’s construction of wildlife border crossings. California, he boasted, had set aside $105 million “to replicate projects like this across the state.” Pratt reportedly thinks “hundreds more crossings are needed.”
Californians can’t afford it. The Newsom administration projects a budget deficit of $2.9 billion for the 2026-2027 period. The state legislature’s nonpartisan budget adviser had released sharper estimates, claiming the deficit could reach $35 billion in coming years.
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If the state wants to finance a nine-figure wildlife overpass project, it should turn to the Annenberg Foundation, which has $1.27 billion in net assets. (The foundation did not respond to our request for comment.) California taxpayers wouldn’t have to spend another dime. Gavin Newsom, unfortunately, seems committed to funding what is, for now, a multi-million dollar bridge to nowhere.
Kenneth Schrupp is an investigative journalist at City Journal.
This opinion article was first published in City magazine.
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