Three mule deer were the first animals documented using a new wildlife overpass on U.S. 97 in Northern California while the project was still nearing completion, according to researchers from the UC Davis Road Ecology Center and the California Department of Transportation. A trail camera captures three mule deer crossing the new U.S. 97 wildlife overpass near Grass Lake in Siskiyou County. The project is California’s first wildlife overcrossing over a state highway. Photo cou

In February, California wildlife officials voted to extend threatened-species protections to roughly 1,400 mountain lions across the Santa Cruz Mountains, Central Coast, Santa Monica, San Gabriel, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, and Eastern Peninsular ranges. This decision followed a 2019 petition, temporary protections that began in 2020, and a state review that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife completed in December 2025. In February 2026, the California Fish and Ga