The Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) has received a competitive state grant to study wildlife movement throughout the Conejo Pass area.

VCTC received the $326,890 grant through the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program. The award is part of $34.7 million in grants statewide that Caltrans announced in April.

The grant will be used to study wildlife at potential crossing points in the Conejo Pass area, to evaluate current wildlife connectivity and to make recommendations for maintaining and improving connectivity throughout the Conejo Pass region. The work will entail tracking multiple species using GPS collars and using remote cameras to monitor wildlife use of existing crossing points and areas in the vicinity of U.S. 101.

The National Park Service (NPS) and Caltrans District 7 collaborated with VCTC on the grant application. NPS staff will carry out the study.

“These grants are very competitive, and I am grateful for the dedicated work of the VCTC staff in partnership with NPS and Caltrans District 7 to pursue this opportunity to obtain critical information about wildlife movement in this area,” said VCTC Executive Director Martin Erickson.

The wildlife movement study will provide data for a project led by VCTC and Caltrans to improve U.S. 101 from Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks to State Route 33 in Ventura.

The Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program—Sustainable Communities Competitive Grants provide an opportunity to fund local and regional multimodal transportation and land use-planning projects. More information about the grant program can be found at the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants website.