Letter: We need wildlife corridors to protect local species

To the Editor:

Living on a farm means watching life bloom, especially in spring. Spring in the Commonwealth is when our natural heritage comes back to life. But this is also an important moment to recognize that our wildlife is much more fragile than it used to be because we are losing habitat at a staggering rate. To make matters worse, we keep chopping up the nature we do have for roads and suburbs. We need to protect Pennsylvania’s beloved critters who depend on connected habitats to survive and thrive, and the solution is simple: wildlife corridors.

This is a broad term for different strategies designed to connect habitats, such as highway overpasses for deer and elk, a wetland strip between parking lots to connect box turtle ponds, or milkweed along a highway to help the monarchs on their famous migration. Wildlife corridors will help keep our wild spaces wild, our animals healthy, and our spring beautiful and full of life.

I’ve done my part by conserving my own land, like many of my neighbors. But we can’t do it alone: I urge state leaders to take steps to help protect, preserve, and restore wildlife corridors in Pennsylvania so that we can protect our precious natural heritage for generations to come.

Martin Aguilar

Glenmoore