| Tonner Canyon and it Significance to the Puente/Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor |
| Are conservation dollars well spent in purchasing land for wildlife corridors? Some question the monetary value of acquiring land strictly for corridor purposes, asking if that same amount of money could have been better spent purchasing higher quality habitat areas instead, since most corridor land is often of lesser ecological value in and of itself. A research paper addressing that very issue pointed out the uncertainty in the corridor concept, and felt that the scientific community may have become too enamored with corridors. The premise of that study is that if there are X number of dollars to spend on habitat preservation, is it wise to pursue corridors over core habitat? For example, if there is a bond measure that provides $10 million for land acquisition, is it better to use that money to buy corridor property and maintain the connection between two habitat areas, or to purchase another more pristine habitat area? That is a valid question, but we shall see that you actually need both types of land to fully “preserve” biodiversity.
In the case of the Corridor, a large amount of funds have been used to purchase connecting corridors, sometimes paying far more for corridor land than for more ecologically healthy habitat. A good example was the two separate land purchases in Coal Canyon, where the Chino Hills meet the Santa Ana Mountains. These acquisitions were considered crucial to the biological health of the entire Corridor, because they together represented “the last remaining viable wildlife corridor still in existence between the Puente-Chino Hills area and the Cleveland National Forest (Santa Ana Mountains). It ties together an area of about 50,000 acres to the north of Highway 91, with more than 500,000 acres to the south, providing a vital wildlife corridor that extends from the Whittier Hills to San Diego County” (California Department of Parks and Recreation, 2001, 1). The animals use the Coal Canyon underpass to cross the 91. The larger 649 acre parcel south of Highway 91, of excellent ecological quality and relatively undisturbed by man was purchased in 2000 for $40 million, a cost of about $62,000/acre. The 32 acre parcel north of the 91 and bordering the Santa Ana River was purchased the next year for $13.5 million, costing a much higher $420,000/acre, an increase of over 600% (Coronado, 2001)! The smaller river parcel is on flat land and would have been much easier to develop than the mountainous larger piece, hence one reason for the higher per acre price tag on the river property. The fact that the state was willing to pick up the tab for the pricy river parcel demonstrates the major commitment to, and belief in, the corridor principle as a vital part of the plan to preserve the biological integrity of these hills. In addition, Caltrans has begun a project of permanently closing the Coal Canyon offramp from the 91, removing the concrete from the road, restoring the coastal sage scrub community that existed there prior to development, and installing fences to direct the animals to the restored underpass, all to make for a more animal-friendly corridor. The state is paying over $1 million for the revegetation, and Caltrans is adding $400,000 for the fencing (Koelle, 2003, 4-5). Research studies have verified that animals use these underpass corridors as safe ways to cross between habitat areas, sometimes as the only way to do so. The Coal Canyon underpass restoration is doing precisely what papers such as one about wildlife and highway undercrossings in Southern California recommend, that “simple improvements such as habitat restoration near crossing points and animal proof fencing that serves to funnel wildlife to passages, can facilitate animal movement between fragmented habitats that are bisected by roads” (Ng et al, 2004, 499). This project in Coal Canyon of restoring an underpass for a wildlife corridor is also making history, as a study of the corridor recently concluded. “Restoring a natural linkage in what is now a roaded underpass would set a global president. We are aware of no other restored biological corridor of this type and scale. Conservation-minded citizens throughout the world could look to Coal Canyon as an inspiring example of how an ecological error was corrected through thoughtful public action” (Noss, Beier and Shaw, 2002, 1). This sizable total investment was justified because public agencies are said to have already invested over $200 million in the Puente/Chino Hills (Hills for Everyone, state_investment_table.htm), plus an even higher amount for the larger Santa Ana Mountains, so this attempt to maintain species diversity is actually a strategy to protect the publics massive investment in the biology and recreation opportunities of this region of Southern California (Noss, Beier and Shaw, 2002, 3). Studies that showed the extent to which animals use these corridors in the Puente/Chino Hills were a driving factor in the decision to work so hard to ensure that the habitat areas, and the corridors that connect them, remain natural and preserved. One radio-collared male used the Coal Canyon corridor 16 times in 1991 (Beier, 1993, 104)! In addition, other animals such as coyotes, bobcats, skunks, raccoons, opossums, skunks and foxes also have been documented to use this underpass, demonstrating that is in indeed a fully functioning wildlife crossing. While all this was seen with the crossing as-is, it is predicted that with the revegetation, concrete removal and re-aligned fencing far more species will use the corridor, justifying the expense of seeing this project through to completion from an ecological and recreational (more species to see on both sides of the corridor) point of view (Noss, Beier and Shaw, 2002, 7-8). |