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This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers\u00a0<\/em>exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute\u2019s world-class team of scholars.<\/em><\/p>\n In this piece, originally published in City Journal<\/a>, Christopher Rufo and Kenneth Schrupp dive into California\u2019s over-budget animal bridge, a boondoggle that exposes the flaws in Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s approach to governance.<\/em><\/p>\n In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. At the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had committed $54 million. He promised to \u201ccomplete the job within another $10 million,\u201d before seeming to hedge on whether that final sum would do the trick. Officials projected<\/a> a 2025 completion date for the overpass, and estimated that the entire project\u2014which includes the bridge and other ancillary developments\u2014would cost<\/a> $92 million, some of it coming from private philanthropists.<\/p>\n Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some<\/a> $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world\u2019s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass \u201cfor everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.\u201d<\/p>\n Pratt, a cougar-sweater-wearing<\/a> environmental activist who serves<\/a> on WAWC\u2019s Partner Leadership Team, is the program\u2019s public face. She is also a regional executive director<\/a> of the National Wildlife Federation. In 2021, the group received<\/a> a $25 million grant from \u201cWallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation\u201d for the bridge that bears the late philanthropist\u2019s name.<\/p>\n That money apparently was not enough. This past January, donning a hard hat and a \u201c#SAVELACOUGARS\u201d jersey, Pratt announced a possible $21 million overage. She effectively blamed<\/a> President Trump, attributing the multimillion-dollar overrun to \u201ctariffs, inflation, [and] labor problems.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no boondoggle,\u201d she said. \u201cGiven the times we\u2019re living in,\u201d a potential $21 million overage is \u201cnot that bad.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to our request for comment on the cost increases, Pratt argued that they were consistent with those faced by other construction projects.<\/p>\n Within days of Pratt\u2019s announcement, the California Transportation Commission funneled<\/a> another $18.8 million to the project, well exceeding the governor\u2019s $10 million cap. The project\u2019s total price tag now reaches<\/a> about $114 million, reportedly including some $77 million in state funds<\/a>. Newsom\u2019s office pointed<\/a> us to a press release in response to our request for comment.<\/p>\n Why has a project primarily consisting of a bridge<\/a> for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC\u2019s philanthropic supporters apparently don\u2019t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-endorsing<\/a> Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, citing<\/a> the California Department of Transportation\u2019s estimate, \u201cfor every $1 billion spent\u201d on wildlife crossings, \u201c13,000 jobs are created.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of these jobs are absurd. The National Wildlife Federation\u2019s WAWC website claims<\/a> that \u201c[o]ur Native Plant Nursery\u201d\u2014apparently funded<\/a> by the nonprofit SAMO Fund and other \u201cpartners\u201d\u2014\u201chas prioritized hiring Indigenous team members to help steward the plants that will vegetate the bridge.\u201d The nursery\u2019s co-manager said<\/a> she makes an \u201coffering\u201d after collecting seeds, sometimes including pieces of her hair.<\/p>\n Or consider the ways one of the nursery workers and her associates have spent their time. The nursery\u2019s founding manager worked <\/a>with \u201chelpers and volunteers\u201d to \u201cseed scout[]\u201d across the Santa Monica Mountains. Her associates on the \u201cdesign team\u201d received \u201cfeedback from all the various project partners\u201d\u2014including state and federal bureaucrats\u2014for their plant list.<\/p>\n A group of experts apparently adds to the operation\u2019s expense. A fungi whiz, Pratt says, worked<\/a> as a WAWC habitat designer, periodically scrutinizing<\/a> root samples under a microscope. A contracted<\/a> soil scientist said<\/a> his process involves assessing local dirt to \u201crebuild it . . . as close to nature as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n One reason California supposedly needs this overpass is to ensure the safety and genetic diversity of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, where only about a dozen non-kitten cougars live<\/a> at any given time. While bridge proponents claim<\/a> that the local mountain lion population could otherwise face extinction, researchers suggest the bridge is not the only solution to ensure their survival.<\/p>\n According to a 2016 paper<\/a> published by the Royal Society, the mountain lion population living in and around the Santa Monica Mountains is \u201cdemographically vigorous.\u201d Still, the paper argues, the population could face \u201crapid extinction\u201d if it becomes less genetically diverse.<\/p>\n California Governor Gavin Newsom at the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Groundbreaking Celebration in 2022 (Photo by Jon Kopaloff\/Getty Images for The National Wildlife Foundation)<\/p>\n While bridge proponents have cited<\/a> this study, the researchers say adding just one new mountain lion to the population per generation was apparently sufficient to reduce extinction risk. If Newsom and the philanthropists were really interested in protecting these lions, $114 million could likely fund<\/a> translocations for thousands of years.<\/p>\n At the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom envisioned WAWC as a catalyst for the construction of wildlife crossings across the state. California, he boasted, set aside $105 million \u201cto replicate projects like this all up and down the state.\u201d Pratt reportedly thinks \u201chundreds<\/a> more crossings are needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Californians can\u2019t afford it. The Newsom administration projects<\/a> a $2.9 billion budget deficit for 2026\u20132027. The state legislature\u2019s nonpartisan fiscal advisor had published steeper estimates and claimed<\/a> the deficit could rise to $35 billion in coming years.<\/p>\n If the state wants to fund a nine-figure overpass project for animals, it should turn to the Annenberg Foundation, which holds $1.27 billion<\/a> in net assets. (The foundation did not respond to our request for comment.) California taxpayers shouldn\u2019t have to spend another cent. Gavin Newsom, unfortunately, seems committed to bankrolling what for now is a multimillion-dollar bridge to nowhere.<\/p>\n Christopher F. Rufo<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of\u00a0City Journal, and the author of\u00a0<\/em>America\u2019s Cultural Revolution<\/a>.\u00a0Kenneth Schrupp<\/a>\u00a0is an investigative reporter at\u00a0City Journal.<\/em><\/p>\nClick here for more from the Manhattan Institute.<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n