The Nature Conservancy Celebrates the Signing of Landmark Wildlife Connectivity Legislation

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) applauds Governor Newsom for his signing of Senate Bill 1250, which will make California’s roads safer while contributing to the state’s wildlife conservation goals by supporting wildlife connectivity. SB 1250, authored by Senator Cortese and sponsored by TNC, was signed into law today at the California Natural Resources Agency’s 30×30 Partnership Summit. 

TNC’s leadership in connectivity conservation spans more than 25 years and includes the landmark California Missing Linkages effort launched in 2000, which identified over 200 priority wildlife linkages and shaped today’s statewide connectivity planning. In January 2026, TNC co-hosted the 25th Anniversary Missing Linkages Symposium in Sacramento, convening agency, science, NGO and many other partners as well as tribal representatives to assess progress and chart actions needed through 2050. TNC also sponsored AB 2785 in 2008, which established the Essential Habitat Connectivity Project – the first time Caltrans and California Department of Fish and Game (CDFW) mapped habitat connectivity corridors in California.

This body of work, together with our partnerships in California Wildlife Reconnected (CWR) and with Senator Cortese, led to the idea of aligning ecological movement corridors with planned State Highway System (SHS) upgrades to deliver safer roads and resilient landscapes and, subsequently, the creation of SB 1250.

SB 1250 will integrate wildlife connectivity into the way California plans, designs and delivers its routine highway projects, supporting better planning and agency coordination for wildlife connectivity while increasing driver safety and reducing traffic congestion. The measure will also require the California Transportation Commission to review and approve a supplemental list for wildlife connectivity assets on the state highway system.

Over the course of the legislative session, SB 1250 received support from over 90 organizations, including local governments, transportation agencies, land trusts and a broad area of wildlife advocacy groups, as well as bipartisan support in the Legislature. SB 1250 will become law in January 2027.

“We are thrilled that Governor Newsom has signed SB 1250 into law,” said Michael Jarred, Associate Director, State Policy Lead at TNC in California. “SB 1250 not only establishes a framework for improving highways for people and wildlife in California. It also serves as a foundation for future policy in California and acts as a model for other states seeking to align transportation planning, public safety and wildlife conservation. We are grateful for Senator Cortese’s leadership on this bill and look forward to working with the next governor on implementing this policy in January.”