President
Located on the southern end of the San Jose City limits, Coyote Valley connects over 1.13 million acres of open space in the Diablo and Santa Cruz mountain ranges.
If properly conserved, this landscape will provide multiple benefits—rare wildlife habitats for hundreds of species, an 1,000+ acre historic wetland complex, a secure source of drinking water, natural flood protection, agricultural lands and future opportunities for recreation.
On June 15 a significant report was published by the Santa Clara Open Space Authority (OSA), which included conclusive evidence for protecting and restoring one of the last remaining undeveloped valley floors in the Bay Area—the 7,000+ acre Coyote Valley.
We believe that the Coyote Valley is a critical, last chance opportunity to protect the long-term health and resilience of our region by connecting over 450,000 acres of protected lands on both sides of the Valley. Paul Rogers of the San Jose Mercury News covered the OSA’s vision for Coyote Valley in this great piece as did CBS Bay Area.
In conjunction with the Report, I am pleased to announce that POST has acquired a 30-acre property in Coyote Valley that we are calling Fisher Flats. Situated just west of the Monterey Highway and next to Fisher Creek, this crucial acquisition is the first step in protecting what could be the most functional and viable passage for wildlife to move freely between the Diablo and Santa Cruz Mountain ranges in the face of climate change.
Conservation is no longer tangential to having a thriving economy and a thriving population. It is integral. Envisioning the Coyote Valley as a vital piece of an ecological puzzle reflects a new era of 21st-century climate-smart land use. The time is now. Fisher Flats represents the future of our work and focuses on properties that provide the critical connectivity we need to ensure a viable and resilient landscape that will thrive for the century to come.
I look forward to sharing more stories of this remarkable place in the months and years ahead.
Click here to learn more about our acquisition of 30-acre Fisher Flats.
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Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Posted on By Rebecca RountreePeninsula 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