U.S. Senators Heard Successes and Considered Opportunities to Advance Habitat Connectivity Conservation Nationwide
Senator Lummis and Senator Padilla at the Senate hearing on Wildlife Movement and Migration Corridors. November 14, 2023.
Wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity received bipartisan attention this week in the United States Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife during a hearing to discuss the successes, challenges, and opportunities experienced in the West to address habitat fragmentation by improving habitat connectivity conservation policies.
California Senator Alex Padilla kicked off the hearing in front of a large photo of the famous mountain lion P-22, roaming at night in front of the Hollywood sign. The iconic creature captured the hearts of Los Angelenos and wildlife enthusiasts around the world and was the star example of why wildlife crossings like the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing were so desperately needed. P-22 was confined by freeways and development to his small woodland habitat in Griffith Park until he met his untimely end shortly after suffering a vehicle strike. The story of his short life set the stage for what was truly an uplifting, collegial, and promising hearing for wildlife.
During the hearing, wildlife corridor conservation was described as a politically “nonpartisan” conservation issue by witness Charlton “Chuck” Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Similarly, witness Madeleine West, Director of the Center for Public Lands at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, told U.S. Senators that this conservation issue was about “more than just animals you can hunt,” as many animals have benefitted from corridor projects for migratory big game in the West, making this conservation issue one that unconventional allies can rally around and support.
The spirit of camaraderie and finding common ground was also evident among the Senators present at the hearing. Republican Senators John Boozeman (AR) and Pete Ricketts (NE) talked about the importance of migratory bird flyways within their states, with Senator Ricketts describing the incredible influx of tourism brought to Nebraska each spring for the massive Sand Hill Crane migrations to the Platte River Valley.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, Ranking Member of the Committee, warmly thanked her colleague Senator Padilla for giving this “timely” issue a hearing. She noted that California and Wyoming were starkly different in size, population, and development, but she was stuck by how similar the states’ habitat fragmentation problems were. Senator Lummis and witness Richard King, Chief Game Warden of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, talked about how successful Wyoming’s migration corridor programs have been and offered their program as a potential model for other states looking to engage in this type of corridor conservation work.
The Environment and Public Works Chairman, Tom Carper, joined the hearing to ask the witnesses from the West what Eastern states like Delaware might be able to learn from the successes and challenges faced in Western wildlife corridor conservation. Ms. West explained that the existing Western programs were “easily scalable” to include new geographies and species and that “with the stroke of a pen,” you could expand the scope of the Western programs, and they could be applicable in the East.
With her last question, Senator Lummis asked witnesses what the U.S. Senate could give them to make their work easier to accomplish. Director Bonham responded, stating first that he believed there would be value in memorializing current Secretarial Orders because “Congressional direction motivates.” Second, he explained that the current Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program would eventually need an infusion of additional funding to meet the need for wildlife crossing construction across the country. He highlighted that the program currently only provides $350 million over five years and that his department alone contributed $90 million to connectivity projects this year. Lastly, he explained that collaboration between government entities had been a challenge and that the agencies need to “be encouraged, cajoled, persuaded, and motivated” to work together and make a difference on this issue.
Wildlands Network Staff Erin Sito and Tim Noviello were just some of the audience members present for the hearing. “Having seen so much movement on wildlife corridor policy at the state level over the years, it was exciting to see the same type of bipartisan support and discussion happening at the federal level,” said Erin Sito. “We look forward to seeing Senators Padilla, Lummis, and other supportive subcommittee members continue to lead these very encouraging conversations, with the hope that nationwide wildlife corridor policy might be on the horizon for Congress.”
Watch the full Senate hearing here.
Contact: Erin Sito, U.S. Public Policy Director
774-265-0261
