By Linda Pauer
While those of us in Southern California are working to connect lands and habitats for the benefit of all wildlife, many have already blazed the trail around the globe. A recent gathering honored Dr. Laurie Marker, a conservation biologist and one of the world’s leading experts on cheetah conservation, who has led groundbreaking research and developed new conservation models and built partnerships for species where none existed before. Sitting at the table with fellow lovers of wildlife and nature inspired extraordinary conversations about conservation and ecological sustainability. This connection between professors from Soka University of America, volunteers from the Sierra Club’s Sierra Sage group and environmental planners from CalTrans will lead us to accomplish something meaningful to protect our environment and the vital keystone species whose numbers are dwindling.
Two of those vital keystone species – mountain lions and cheetahs – that help keep deer, elk, and other herbivore populations in balance will be celebrated in December. Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing: The monumental wildlife bridge over the 101 freeway in Agoura Hills is on schedule for its official ribbon-cutting on December 2, 2026. On the same day we will celebrate the legacy of P-22 who was an adult male mountain lion that survived crossing both the 101 and 405 freeways, busy routes that have claimed the lives of countless cougars and other wildlife. He settled in Griffith Park, where he lived for roughly a decade without any known incidents involving humans. And on December 4th each year we celebrate International Cheetah Day, and the birthday of Khayam, a young cheetah cub who was raised at Wildlife Safari in Oregon and taken to Namibia in 1977, sparking research and global solutions to human-wildlife conflict.
We are committed to working closely together and hope that our endeavors will be fruitful,
and that this connection will lead us to accomplish something meaningful together.
Francis Appiah, CalTrans mitigation specialist, captured his reflections on our dinner meeting in the poem below.
An Unexpected Meeting, a Shared Purpose
By Francis Appiah
We cannot know what waits beyond
a kindly opened door,
or how a simple dinner call
may lead to something more.
Through Linda, part of Sierra Sage,
an invitation came—
an evening that would give our hopes
a face, a voice, a name.
For there sat Dr. Laurie Marker,
and as our stories flowed,
we found a love for creatures wild
along a common road.
We spoke of homes beyond our own—
of dens and sheltered ground,
of all the living things that need
safe passage to be found.
I told her of the crossing,
the hope its promise brings:
the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing,
a bridge for quiet things.
And then I shared P-22,
his photograph in hand—
one mountain lion’s story held
against a changing land.
A little gift, and yet it held
a place within my heart:
the life that moved so many souls
and called us each to act.
Celina joined our conversation,
a biologist whose care
and work upon the crossing gave
another hope to share.
Dr. Marker’s joy for us
made distant places near;
across the table, possibility
grew bright and clear.
“We should do something together
in Namibia,” I said—
not knowing where those hopeful words
might someday gently lead.
No promise yet, no settled plan,
but something worth exploring:
a seed of shared intention,
with room enough for growing.
From California’s winding hills
to Namibia’s open skies,
we dreamed of keeping pathways free
for fur and paw and eyes.
And what began with dinner
became a meeting ground,
where lives from different continents
a common purpose found.
We left with more than memories
of stories warmly told—
we carried one another’s hope
for lives we cannot hold.
For sometimes, at a table,
beneath an evening’s light,
the future finds a little room
and sits with us that night.
Dionne Stein put these words to music.
Join us for SIERRA SAGE PRESENTS on Wednesday evening, November 18th to hear a performance of this poem and song.