News!

The Critical Pathway for Wildlife

The Open Space Authority is excited to share updates in the quest to protect the Coyote Valley wildlife linkage between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range. The Authority and its partners at the Wilmers Lab at UC Santa Cruz, Peninsula Open Space Trust, and Pathways for Wildlife, started the Bobcat and Gray Fox Connectivity Study last spring and are wrapping up the final field season now with a total of 22 bobcats collared so far! Fitting the bobcats with advanced GPS-collars is generating fine-scale movement data and information that will be vital to informing planners on how these animals are moving in Coyote Valley.

Google’s San Jose village plan seeks success where Coyote Valley project fizzled

Authored by George Avalos and published in The Mercury News November 11, 2017. Photo by LiPo Ching.

SAN JOSE — Thirty-five years ago, San Jose agreed to move forward with an ambitious plan to build a massive technology campus, aiming to ease traffic jams by offering reverse commutes for employees living in burgeoning nearby communities.

The project promised to bring thousands of jobs. It would have built a transit link as well, with access to rail for the workers who opted out of commuting by car.

 It may sound eerily similar to Google’s proposed transit village, but San Jose’s past effort to build a huge tech campus in Coyote Valley — far from the downtown core — never got off the ground, despite many attempts to resurrect it from the ash heap of history.

A Stepping Stone for Conservation in Coyote Valley

With the Open Space Authority’s recent Coyote Valley Landscape Linkage report, the valley has been top of mind for many conservation organizations. Bringing us a step closer to realizing the report's vision, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) has purchased the Ramke property near Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. Each open space acquisition serves as a stepping stone for conservation in implementing the Linkage vision. The property will be transferred to the Authority to become part of the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve.

National At-Risk Landscapes: Coyote Valley makes the list

According to a new report, Coyote Valley is one of the nation’s most at-risk landscapes, due to the continuing threat of development. The 2017 Landslide Report: Open Season on Open Space was compiled by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to connecting people to places and encouraging stewardship of public lands and culturally significant spaces. Coyote Valley was one of thirteen different threatened places featured from coast to coast.

Youth Stewards Volunteer at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve

On October 11, the Open Space Authority hosted students from San Jose's Harker Academy at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. More than 200 high school freshman students and staff came out, making it the biggest volunteer Land Steward service day in Authority history. The Harker volunteers gathered to hear San Jose City Councilmember Chappie Jones speak about the importance of protecting the environment, and then worked on trail maintenance, removing non-native mustard plants along the Arrowhead Trail.

POST Purchases Key Property in mid-Coyote Valley

POST Purchases Key Property in mid-Coyote Valley
Advancing Regional Vision for Wildlife Corridor

(Palo Alto, Calif.)—Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today the purchase of a 63-acre property at the intersection of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Richmond Avenue in the mid-Coyote Valley, near the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority’s Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. This acquisition marks the second project that POST has completed in the Valley over the past 6 months.

POST purchased the property from the Ramke family for $2,852,100. The property had been owned by the family for over six decades where they grew tomatoes, beans, bell peppers, and most recently alfalfa, wheat and oats.

Mayor Tran: Coyote Creek Matters

Authored by Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran. Published in the Milpitas Post October 13, 2017.

Milpitas is part of a much larger watershed that benefits Santa Clara Valley.

We live in an astonishingly beautiful region nestled against the rolling grasslands and oak forests of the Diablo Mountain Range. Milpitas residents clearly want to protect these beautiful landscapes.  We voted overwhelmingly (79%) last November to renew the city’s Hillside Ordinance that insures protection of our scenic hills while allowing common sense development.

The Coyote Valley Linkage to the Latino Community

Co-authored by Sergio Jimenez, San Jose Councilmember and Ada Marquez, Environmental Scientist and Faculty Member, San Jose State University. Published in El Observador October 6, 2017.

From the acquisition of California from Mexico in 1848, to the agricultural ties of the Valley of Heart’s Delight, to the transition of Silicon Valley, Latinos have strong cultural connections to Santa Clara Valley. Historically, we merge the issues of economic equality, civil rights, and local environmental concerns together. Latinos have consistently shown they care about our culture, nature, future generations, and a strong connection to the land. There is a place right here in Santa Clara Valley that deserves such care, though many don’t even know about it. It’s known as the Coyote Valley.

The South Valley Meadow From Above

There's a new reason to go take a hike at the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve this fall - the South Valley Meadow restoration is complete and ready to capture the coming rains!

Folk icon Joan Baez honored by Committee for Green Foothills

Written by Eric Kurhi. Published in the Mercury News September 24, 2017. Photo by Eric Kurhi.

COYOTE — It wasn’t the most prominent award bestowed upon folk icon and social activist extraordinaire Joan Baez this year — she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — but the Woodside resident was all smiles among fans at the Committee for Green Foothills fundraiser on Sunday.

Baez, a Woodside resident who is internationally known for her three-octave soprano range and diehard anti-war efforts, is also known on the local level for preservation work on the Peninsula, particularly those aimed at helping fauna friends.