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Bridges and Cougars and Butterflies, Oh MY! Chris Rufo Exposes Yet ANOTHER Gavin Newsom Boondoggle

Grateful Calvin
Grateful Calvin  |  2:00 PM on March 18, 2026


When people cite an example of profligate government waste, one project that always comes up is Alaska's infamous 'Bridge to  Nowhere.' But at least that project was cancelled. It can't hold a candle to California's high-speed rail under Governor Gavin Newsom, which currently stands at $100 billion over budget while not transporting any passengers anywhere. 

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With no end in sight except possibly the end of Newsom's reign as governor. 

But if you know Newsom, you know that projects costing way too much money and delivering zero results are his favorite types of projects.

Thanks to a new report from journalist Christopher Rufo and City Journal, we have learned about yet another Newsom boondoggle. 

Take a seat, Bridge to Nowhere. Meet the Bridge for Butterflies. 

If you are asking yourself why butterflies could possibly need a bridge, then you are a sane person who is in no way qualified for elected office in California. 

Rufo's exposé reveals all of the greatest hits of government corruption. Cost overruns, delays, do-nothing jobs, and leftist virtue signaling. Here are some of the highlights: 

In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California ... Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass 'for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.'

Pratt, a cougar-sweater-wearing environmental activist who serves on WAWC’s Partner Leadership Team, is the program’s public face ... 'There’s no boondoggle,' she said. 'Given the times we’re living in,' a potential $21 million overage is 'not that bad.'

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What a relief to the taxpayers. Only $21 million in additional cost. With no results or completion date in sight. 

But don't worry, Californians. The Butterfly Bridge is also a jobs program.

Why has a project primarily consisting of a bridge for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC’s philanthropic supporters apparently don’t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-endorsing Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, citing the California Department of Transportation’s estimate, 'for every $1 billion spent' on wildlife crossings, '13,000 jobs are created.'

Some of these jobs are absurd. The National Wildlife Federation’s WAWC website claims that '[o]ur Native Plant Nursery'—apparently funded by the nonprofit SAMO Fund and other 'partners'—'has prioritized hiring Indigenous team members to help steward the plants that will vegetate the bridge.' The nursery’s co-manager said she makes an 'offering' after collecting seeds, sometimes including pieces of her hair.

Thank God for projects like this to create 'jobs' for Berkeley graduates who spent $400,000 to major in intersectional gender studies.

Rufo's report contains many more insane details, and he also posted videos of the type of person who has a 'job' because of the project.

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To add insult to injury and massive waste, Newsom and Pratt have stated that they want hundreds more projects just like the Butterfly Bridge up and down the state. 

A state -- oh, by the way -- that has a $3 billion budget deficit this year and is $1.5 trillion in debt.

If Newsom were just incompetent, then yes. He would likely stumble on a success eventually, even if by accident.

But it's not incompetence. It's corruption, deliberate waste, and fraud. That's how he maintains a 100 percent failure rate.

True, this project pales in comparison to Newson's HSR boondoggle. 

But it goes to show that there's no project too small for him to waste millions of dollars on it. Dollars that are not his to waste.

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And yet, no homes in the Palisades have been rebuilt. 

Now we know why his cringy social media team is so mad at Nick Shirley. 

It's almost like they are intentionally laughing at us as they light a match and throw it on taxpayer money. 

HA. 

OK, we had to include one obligatory 'cougar' joke. 

You have an election coming up soon, California. Vote accordingly. 

According to Rufo's report, nearly all of it.

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And, just in case everything you've read so far didn't convince you that Newsom's California is so farcical, it could be straight out of a Terry Gilliam movie, here's one more tidbit about the bridge: 

Un ... freaking ... BELIEVABLE! 

Hey, here's an idea for Gavin Newsom. How about leaving the mountain lions in their habitat, not putting families at risk of wild animal attack, letting butterflies fly wherever they want to (which they will do anyway), and NOT spending hundreds of millions more on a project no one needs or asked for -- least of all the wildlife.

Maybe the only good news for Californians living in the vicinity of this latest boondoggle is that, given Newsom's track record, the Butterfly Bridge will never be finished. 

Sorry, cougars. Looks like human meat is off the menu.


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