Governor Signs Bill to Improve California’s Wildlife Connectivity
September 30, 2024 – SACRAMENTO, CA – Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Room to Roam Act into law on Friday, setting measures that will promote wildlife movement across the state. Assembly Bill 1889 directs cities and counties to minimize the disruption of wildlife movement and offers development guidelines such as incorporating wildlife-friendly fencing and lighting.
“California is finally moving away from the land-use mistakes that have trapped our wild neighbors and made it hard for them to find food, shelter and mates,” said J.P. Rose, Urban Wildlands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I hope these sensible guidelines inspire local governments across the nation to improve wildlife connectivity in their communities. If we’re going to curb the extinction crisis and the climate emergency, we need everyone from planners to politicians working to preserve the natural world for the next generation.”
Poorly planned development not only makes it hard for wildlife to thrive, it also makes it hard for them to survive.
Light pollution can confuse migrating birds and make them crash into buildings, while poorly designed fences can unintentionally trap deer and other wildlife. Many animals like mountain lions and desert tortoises are struggling because ill-conceived development has sliced up their habitat, leaving them unable to find food and shelter. Some suffer from harmful inbreeding due to habitat fragmentation.
“We need wildlife to help balance the ecosystems we depend on for clean water, food, our economy, and connection to nature,” said Mari Galloway, California director at the Wildlands Network. “The passage of the Room to Roam Act is a critical step toward aligning our land-use decisions with the habitats wildlife need to survive.”
The bill, co-sponsored by the Center and Wildlands Network, works with existing legislation to protect the state’s biodiversity. It complements the Safe Roads and Wildlife Protection Act (A.B. 2344), which requires the California Department of Transportation to prioritize wildlife crossing structures when improving or building roads, as well as the California Ecosystems Protection Act of 2023 (A.B. 1322) and the Poison-Free Wildlife Act (A.B. 2552), which make landscapes safer for wildlife by limiting toxic rodenticides.
The Room to Roam Act also helps California meet its 30x30 goal to conserve 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030.
Adult male mountain lion P-64. Photo credit: U.S. National Park Service.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Since 1991, Wildlands Network has been reconnecting, restoring, and rewilding North America so that life in all of its diversity can thrive.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
