I’ve been working to protect open spaces for a long time (23 years with POST, to be exact). Throughout my career, the focus has been to build upon our previous work by connecting areas of protected open space. Well, last May, we took a major step forward in connecting open space in the South Bay.
In partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (the Authority), we protected 326 acres of Barrett Canyon, south of the Almaden Reservoir. At nearly the same time, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) protected 154 acres of adjacent land within the canyon—totaling 480 acres of newly protected open space.
Through these two acquisitions, there are exciting opportunities for new South Bay trails on 31,000 acres of connected land. There is now a permanently protected landscape linkage between Midpen’s Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve and the Authority’s Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve; the expanded network of open space also includes Calero and Almaden Quicksilver County Parks.
Take a look and see for yourself how these newly protected properties connect South Bay open spaces:
Barrett Canyon lies at the base of Loma Prieta, the tallest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Water flowing north off the summit of the mountain converges within the canyon and flows, year-round, into the Almaden Reservoir providing drinking water for much of San Jose.
It feels good to have been able to secure a significant source of the South Bay’s drinking water.
I am also deeply grateful for the partnerships we have built with our public agencies partners—the Authority and Midpen. Our work in Barrett Canyon is a prime example of how our relationships have accomplished so much good for the Bay Area. It’s clear from this work that we have a winning collaborative formula.
Going forward, the Authority will manage the POST-owned land within the canyon until we transfer it to them in about two years. It’s an exciting time for land conservation in the Bay Area and I’m looking forward to what the future holds—to working together to connect protected lands and add to an already extraordinary network of open spaces.
Thank you for your continued support and interest in this work.
For more information, check out this recent story about our acquisition of Barrett Canyon in the Mercury News.
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About Post
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) protects open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. Since its founding in 1977, POST has been responsible for saving more than 87,000 acres as permanently protected land in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Learn more