Wetlands: Caltrans has had to rebuild, or mitigate, at least as many wetlands as it displaces during the project. The tunnels and the bridge are displacing just less than one acre of total wetlands, which Caltrans has mitigated in two areas. The agency built half an acre of wetlands on six acres of property owned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust just east of Highway 1 in Montara, south of the Slide. The state agency also made a new pond in the Shamrock Valley on the north side of Montara Mountain, to accommodate the relocation of California red-legged frogs that would have lost significant sunlight from the bridge's shadow.
Animals: In addition to the California red-legged frog, Caltrans had to make provisions for dusky-footed woodrats that had a habitat near the planned operations center on the south side of Montara Mountain. Caltrans built walls with one-way holes in them to allow the animals to scurry through to safer ground and prohibit them from re-entering the worksite. Also, the California Department of Fish & Game has observed and monitored a number of peregrine falcons that have nested on the cliffs at various times during the project.
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Watchdogs: Throughout all of its environmental mitigation work on Devil's Slide, Caltrans has to report to five different state and federal agencies. These include the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Fish & Game, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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