Re: Adding Necessary Wildlife Overcrossings to XpressWest High-Speed Rail Project Design
Treasurer Ma, Director Omishakin and Director Bonham:
We write to request that your agencies coordinate to ensure that the proposed XpressWest High-Speed Rail Project (“Project”) includes wildlife overcrossings, which are necessary to avoid the permanent blockage of critical California wildlife corridors resulting from the Project’s concrete barrier walls. The Project requires discretionary approvals from the State, specifically financing (e.g. tax-exempt bonds) and land-use authorizations (e.g. right-of-way).1 State approvals and financial support warrant guarantees that the project respect the state’s interest in affected wildlife. We have presented this request directly to the project sponsors and ask that you make it a requirement.1Bloomberg news reported the $600 million in State bonds issued to XpressWest earlier this year will be returned to the State for reallocation to housing and other projects and that over the next several weeks, the State Treasurer’s Office will be discussing with Brightline the potential for a new request for State bonds. Las Vegas Review Journal reported Brightline will work with California officials to finalize project design.
Your agencies can ensure the Project is appropriately designed to benefit Californians and our world-class wildlife instead of creating a permanently impermeable barrier to wildlife movement. Wildlife species of special status whose movements will be inhibited by this Project include the desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, Mojave ground squirrel, mountain lion, desert kit fox and Merriam bobcat, just to name a few. Wildlife overcrossings preserve the movement of wildlife, connecting populations and allowing individual species to move between habitats. This is critical to allow species to access food and other habitat needs, avoid the isolation of populations and provide for genetic diversity. The need for these crossings has already been identified by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Therefore, we request that inclusion of these wildlife overcrossings in the Project design be made conditions for any State of California approvals for the Project.
As you may be aware, overtures have been made directly to Brightline, the Miami-based owner of the Project, requesting the company voluntarily propose these overcrossings as part of project design and demonstrate how to construct such projects the right way to protect California’s wildlife.2See 9/18/2020 letter from National Parks Conservation Association to Brightline
Brightline is proposing a more than $8 billion project, requesting $600 million in tax-exempt bonds from California, expected to have an annual operating profit of nearly $1 billion,3See 6/11/2020 Forbes article on Fortress Investment Group, which owns Brightline: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/06/11/inside-a-wall-street-tycoons-plan-to-get-americans-off-the-highway—and-on-his-trains/?sh=182631b87a04 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6_3uNXcqc and proposing a project that will have devastating impacts to California’s wildlife. Therefore, the addition of wildlife overcrossings is not only the right thing to do, but is financially reasonable and feasible.
Through adding overcrossings, California can continue to demonstrate its commitment to protecting its rich biodiversity. We ask for your leadership to secure this outcome, and request to discuss this matter with you at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
| Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO Wild Sheep Foundation Neal Desai, Senior Program Director National Parks Conservation Association Pamela Flick, California Program Director Defenders of Wildlife Geary Hund, Executive Director Mojave Desert Land Trust Ileene Anderson, Public Lands Deserts Director Center for Biological Diversity Kim Floyd, Conservation Chair San Gorgonio Chapter, Sierra Club Linda Castro, Assistant Policy Director California Wilderness Coalition Cathie Nelson, President San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Safari Club International Mark Hennelly, Vice President of Government Relations California Waterfowl Association Chriss Bowles, President California Bowmen Hunters/State Archery Association Edward L. LaRue, Jr., M.S., Chairperson Ecosystems Advisory Committee, Desert Tortoise Council Steve Marschke, President Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep Loir Jacobs, President California Houndsmen for Conservation Lisa C. McNamee, Co-Legislative Coordinator SCI CA Coalition Donn Walgamuth, President California Deer Association Wendy Schneider, Executive Director Friends of the Inyo Chris Clarke, Board President Mojave National Preserve Conservancy | Don Martin, President California Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation Gary F. Brennan, President San Diego County Wildlife Federation Aimee J. Byard, Associate Director/Biologist Bighorn Institute Meg Foley, Executive Director Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Michael Madrigal, President Native American Land Conservancy Steve Bardwell, President Morongo Basin Conservation Association Frazier Haney, Deputy Director The Wildlands Conservancy Steve Miller, President Tulare Basin Wetlands Association Fred Harpster, President Black Brant Group Corey Thompson, President Cal-Ore Wetland and Waterfowl Council John D. Wehausen, Ph.D., President Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation Rick Travis, Director of Development California Rifle & Pistol Association Philip A. Francis, Jr., Chair Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Don Giottonini, Co-Legislative Coordinator SCI CA Coalition Kate Hoit, California Director Vet Voice Foundation Kevin Emmerich, Co-Founder Basin and Range Watch |
cc:
Stafford Lehr, Deputy Director for Wildlife and Fisheries, CDFW
Chad Dibble, Deputy Director for Ecosystem Conservation, CDFW
Andrew Walters, Senior Environmental Planner, Caltrans
Michael Beauchamp, Deputy District Director of Construction, Caltrans
Mike Gauthier, Superintendent, Mojave National Preserve
Debra Hughson, Chief, Science and Resource Stewardship, Mojave National Preserve
Members of California Debt Limit Allocation Committee