Coyote Valley Endures: A Look at this Last Chance Landscape

For many, Coyote Valley is a little known rural area just South of San Jose and north of Morgan Hill. But this incredible landscape is deeply important to me. In fact, my earliest memory is driving South on Highway 101 passing through Coyote Valley, when my family moved from East Side San Jose to San Martin. On that drive, my little brain first really acknowledged the rolling, yellow foothills of the Diablo  Mountains — and the Diablo Range has played a central part of my life ever since. I’ve spent countless days exploring the forests and oak grasslands of places like Coyote Lake and Henry Coe State Park since I was a teenager. 

So, when I was invited to participate in a film about the importance of Coyote Valley to our region, I was very excited to help educate others about this amazing landscape. I hope you enjoy it!

My early connection to nature nurtured a sense of responsibility towards the land in me. I think that’s a common experience for many people who become connected to the special natural spaces that are part of our home here in the Bay Area. 

We have a lot of work to do as humans to balance our relationship with nature. This is a key theme in our short film that recently premiered as part of the Bioneers Conference. It was produced by the talented Masha Karpoukhina of Colorfool Films, and I had the pleasure of working alongside my colleagues Irina Kogan, Noelle Chambers and Nick Perry. 

GET INVOLVED

Coyote Valley is such a remarkable place and has value for wildlife, our local watersheds and people who connect with nature. Generations of people and many organizations, including POST and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, have been working hard to see that Coyote Valley is protected — and there is much more work to do. To stay in the loop about ways that you can pitch in, check out the Authority’s Planning Coyote Valley website (and sign up for email updates!). There’s also a short survey you can take to contribute to the planning process.