November 11, 2021
The Honorable Gavin Newsom Governor, State of California
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 9581
Re: Directing Caltrans to Add Necessary Wildlife Overpasses to Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project
Governor Newsom:
We write to request that your administration ensures that the proposed Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project (“Project”) includes three wildlife overpasses, which are necessary to avoid the permanent blockage of critical California wildlife corridors resulting from the Project’s concrete barrier walls.
Caltrans holds jurisdiction over the Project right-of-way, and has existing authorities to ensure the Project proponent includes these wildlife overpasses in the Project design, making the Project consistent with your commitment to protect biodiversity including desert bighorn sheep and mountain lions.
Time is of the essence to resolve this matter, as the Project proponent hopes to complete financing on the project within the next six months. We support the findings from your Caltrans and Department of Fish and Wildlife scientists that have identified the three wildlife overpasses as necessary to protect our world-class wildlife in the fragile California desert. 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 overpasses preserve the movement of wildlife and provide for genetic diversity, connecting populations and allowing individual species to move between habitats, which will be increasingly essential in the face of climate change. Desert wildlife such as the bighorn sheep are of tremendous cultural significance to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and many other desert Native peoples.
Brightline, the Miami-based owner of the Project, is proposing the more than $8 billion project, requesting hundreds of millions in tax-exempt bonds from California, expected to have an annual operating profit of nearly $1 billion16/11/2020 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 – as currently designed – will have devastating impacts to California’s wildlife. Therefore, requiring Brightline to construct the wildlife overpasses is not only the right thing to do, but is financially reasonable and feasible.
Through the inclusion of the overpasses into the Project design, California can continue to demonstrate its commitment to protecting its rich biodiversity. We ask for your leadership to secure this outcome.
Sincerely,
| Eric Hanson, Co-Chair & Policy Lead, California Chapter Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Kevin Emmerich, Co-Founder Basin and Range Watch Aimee J. Byard, Associate Director/Biologist Bighorn Institute Fred Harpster, President Black Brant Group Chriss Bowles, President California Bowmen Hunters/State Archery Association Don Martin, President California Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation Dan Whisenhunt, CEO California Deer Association Lori Jacobs, President California Houndsmen for Conservation Jocelyn Silverlight, Executive Director Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Wendy Schneider, Executive Director Friends of the Inyo Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director Mojave Desert Land Trust Chris Clarke, Board President Mojave National Preserve Conservancy Steve Bardwell, President Morongo Basin Conservation Association Debra Chase, CEO Mountain Lion Foundation Neal Desai, Senior Program Director National Parks Conservation Association Michael Madrigal, President Native American Land Conservancy Fraser Shilling, Director Road Ecology Center | Roy Griffith, Legislative Director California Rifle & Pistol Association Mark Hennelly, Vice President of Government Relations California Waterfowl Association Linda Castro, Assistant Policy Director California Wilderness Coalition Ileene Anderson, Public Lands Deserts Director Center for Biological Diversity Sierra Pencille, Tribal Council Chairperson Chemehuevi Indian Tribe Philip A. Francis, Jr., Chair Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Pamela Flick, California Director Defenders of Wildlife Edward L. LaRue, Jr., M.S., Chairperson Desert Tortoise Council, Ecosystems Advisory Committee Gary F. Brennan, President San Diego County Wildlife Federation Cathie Nelson, President San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Safari Club International Kim Floyd, Conservation Chair San Gorgonio Chapter, Sierra Club Kenneth R. Ramirez, Chairman San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Lisa C. McNamee, Legislative Coordinator SCI CA Coalition John D. Wehausen, Ph.D., President Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation Frazier Haney, Executive Director The Wildlands Conservancy Steve Miller, President Tulare Basin Wetlands Association Laura Cunningham, California Director Western Watersheds Project Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO Wild Sheep Foundation |
cc:
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator The Honorable Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator Toks Omishakin, Director, Caltrans
Chuck Bonham, Director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife The Honorable Fiona Ma, State of California Treasurer
The Honorable Betty Yee, State of California Controller Mark Tollefson, Deputy Cabinet Secretary, Governor’s Office
Mike Gauthier, Superintendent, Mojave National Preserve, U.S. National Park Service Joe Stout, Associate State Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management