Because global warming will present new challenges for many of California’s most prized landscapes. Audubon California is co-sponsoring Assembly Bill 498, which seeks to protect wildlife corridors. The bill, authored by Assembly Member Marc Levine, will make it state policy to protect these vital linkages between valuable habitat areas, which is essential for the health of birds and other wildlife. The bill will help California identify and preserve key habitat areas that give birds a better chance to survive the challenges of climate change.

The bill recently was approved by the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee.

“As we learn more about the habitats that will serve as strongholds for birds and other wildlife in California, it is vital that we also identify ways to connect them,” said Mike Lynes, Audubon California’s director of public policy. “Not only will Assembly Bill 498 help California protect its most vital landscapes, but it will also ensure that we make the best conservation investments as well.”

Assembly Bill 498 will make it a policy of the state that, whenever a project is proposed in an area defined as a wildlife corridor, the proponent will be encouraged to work with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure the continued functioning of that corridor. Many of these corridors are also habitat strongholds or connect strongholds that birds and other wildlife need to survive in an environment altered by climate change.

According to a study released in September 2014 by the National Audubon Society, 170 California bird species will be at risk of extinction in the next several decades due to global warming. This legislative session, Audubon California is supporting proposed bills that reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change, and bills that will help birds survive in a new environment.

“We’re already seeing environmental changes that require the state to plan for the impacts of global warming,” said Lynes. “California’s outdoors, including our birds, are an essential part of our state’s identity, and outdoor recreation is a major driver of our economy.”