GIVE IT A PASS
Published in the July 18, 2026 edition.
The Wildife Crossing Fund, a non-profit dedicated to reducing wildlife mortality via the construction of highway crossings in sensitive locations, was in Mammoth on Tuesday to talk about its project proposal for Highway 395 at the Green Church.
Now, researching the Wildlife Crossing Fund sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, because the wildlifecrossingfund.org, while officially a stand-alone organization, is also deeply entwined with the National Wildlife Federation.
To wit, the Director of the Wildlife Crossing Fund, Beth Pratt, is also the California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation.
According to a 2024 story in the L.A. Times, “Pratt founded the Wildlife Crossing Fund, a nonprofit that aims to raise $500 million to match public funding to start knocking out projects in California and beyond.”
Both groups were part of the California Wildlife Reconnected campaign to build the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in southern California. That overpass in Agoura Hills crosses ten lanes of the Ventura Freeway (Highway 101) and is scheduled to open in December.
Other partners include Caltrans and the California Natural Resources Agency.
The Wallis Annenberg price tag: Approximately $114 million. This is about 25% greater than initial estimates.
On Tuesday, Pratt gathered at the shoulder of Benton Crossing Rd. with representatives from California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Inyo and Mono Counties, Eastern Sierra Land Trust, Caltrans and the Wildlife Conservation Board to make her pitch.
She referenced the 2024 UC Davis Road Ecology Center report, which found that more than 48,000 mule deer are killed annually on California highways. That’s an approximate 10% mortality rate to the total deer population.
The report also estimated the economic impact of roadkill to be $1.64 billion from 2016-2023, or more than $200 million per year.
The local Caltrans office (District 9) has been collecting roadkill data since 2022.
33% of all Mono County roadkill occurs right there at the Highway 395 stretch between the Green Church and McGee Creek.
The cost to install one underpass and one overpass within this stretch of 395 will not be cheap.
Current estimates, per Pratt, are $11 million for final design and engineering plus $84 million for construction.
