News!

New land deal links 31,000 acres of open space south of San Jose

Authored by Paul Rogers and published in The Mercury News November 27, 2018. Photo by Noel Thurlow.

SAN JOSE — As open space deals go, the property is small. But its impact could be big.

The Peninsula Open Space Trust, a non-profit group based in Palo Alto, announced Tuesday it has closed a deal to purchase 159 acres in the rural foothills of Santa Clara County between Almaden Reservoir and Loma Prieta, the tallest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Coyote Valley: Nature as Infrastructure

Just as we invest in traditional urban infrastructure, like transportation and waste and water treatment, strategic investments in natural infrastructure can also provide many valuable benefits to our urban communities. Nature as Infrastructure refers to recognizing and protecting the natural ecological processes which provide us with a multitude of important “services” that include flood protection, reducing greenhouse gases, food supply, increasing resilience to climate change, and promoting the health and safety of both human and natural communities.

Our Open Spaces Provide Us with Benefits Valued up to $12.6 Billion

Healthy Lands Healthy & Economies Initiative Identifies and 
Values the Natural Assets of Three Bay Area Counties

Nature as Infrastructure

Just as we invest in traditional urban infrastructure, like transportation and waste and water treatment, strategic investments in nature or green infrastructure can also provide many valuable benefits to our urban communities. These benefits include flood protection, reducing greenhouse gases, increasing access to food, and resilience to climate change for both human and natural communities.

Coyote Valley: Santa Clara Valley's Green Infrastructure

Just as we invest in traditional urban infrastructure, like transportation and waste and water treatment, strategic investments in nature or green infrastructure can also provide many valuable benefits to our urban communities. These benefits include flood protection, reducing greenhouse gases, increasing access to food, and resilience to climate change for both human and natural communities.

Proposition 3 – the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018

In July 2018, the Open Space Authority’s Board of Directors voted to endorse Proposition 3. Proposition 3 would authorize $8.8 billion in general obligation bonds for state and local parks, environmental protection and restoration projects, water infrastructure projects, and flood protection projects. The Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018 will appear on the November 2018 statewide ballot.

The Loma Fire: Two Years Later

In the midst of a long and destructive wildfire season here in California and across the West, we are reflecting back on the Loma Fire, a massive fire that burned close to home and continues to be a focus for the Authority, two years later.

On September 26, 2016, the Loma Fire took hold of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Jose. The fire burned for two weeks across more than 4,400 acres, including 2,000 acres of Authority lands, destroying homes, sensitive wildlife habitat, and native vegetation.

The Authority heads Out on the Openroad June 24th

Public-Private Partnership Secures Key Open Space Lands for Wildlife and Public Access

Two purchases preserve and protect important South Bay watershed lands, connect multiple parks and preserves

The Power of Partnerships