Investing in Nature
Five-year Impact Report to the Community
All Measure Q Funded Projects
In 2014, an overwhelming 68% of voters approved Measure Q, the Open Space, Wildlife Habitat, Clean Water, and Increased Public Access Funding Measure, a $24 annual parcel tax to fund the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority . Measure Q’s purpose is to protect and preserve natural open space areas for future generations by improving parks, open spaces, and trails; protecting water resources to prevent pollution and improve local water quality; preserving wildlife habitat; expanding public access; enhancing environmental education; and protecting scenic hillsides. In its first five years, Measure Q funded an increase of the number of acres protected as open space in the Authority’s jurisdiction to over 26,000 acres – including a once-in-a-generation acquisition of almost 1,000 acres of long threatened open space in the North Coyote Valley.
I’m so proud of what the Authority has been able to accomplish with the public’s strong support. The Measure Q-funded projects and programs in this report highlight the significant investments we are making together for the health of nature and people – investments that are supporting nature in and near our communities for clean air and water, protecting wildlife, their habitats and movement corridors, protecting natural areas and agricultural lands for their many community benefits, providing opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation, and enhancing our resilience to a changing climate.
Working closely with public agencies, non-profit organizations, and foundations, the Authority has effectively leveraged Measure Q funds to attract other public and private funds to protect open space, water resources, wildlife habitat, and agricultural lands, and to expand public access opportunities and multi-use trails. Through the Authority’s Urban Grant Program, funded by Measure Q, we’ve brought nature to urban communities across the jurisdiction, investing over $2.8M in over 30 projects to green our neighborhoods, seed community gardens, create parks, and connect children and families to nature through environmental education programs.
With the support of Measure Q, the Authority has efficiently and effectively invested in high-priority, high-impact projects to improve our quality of life. And these expenditures have resulted in an impressive return on investment – for every $1 of Measure Q funds spent, we’ve been able to attract $3 in public and private partnership funds for conservation, restoration, and recreation projects.
As former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has said, we’re in the business of forever. Thanks to your support of Measure Q, the Authority’s investments in nature today are essential down payments on a livable future for many generations to come.
With gratitude,
The Open Space Authority helps connect people to the outdoors in their own neighborhoods by funding nearby parks, trails, urban community gardens, and environmental education programs.
The Urban Grant Program, funded by Measure Q, addresses the needs of urban communities, including areas that currently have limited access to preserves and parks. The grant program aims to award projects that will improve the quality of life for urban residents.
Grant projects funded by Measure Q
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Environmental Education
The Authority's popular public events span our jurisdiction and include activities such as outings to view birds and other wildlife, exploration of nature through art, and the ever-popular astronomy nights for full moons and the eclipse. In addition to our programs promoting physical health, we have also started to lead events focusing on mental health through mindfulness and meditation.
The Authority also works with many environmental education partners to provide programs like live bird presentations, tai chi, or nature sketching.
Over the last five years, the Authority has provided over 835 programs to connect more than 21,000 people in our community to nature!
Special Access Events
Hikers, cyclists, and equestrians of all ages enjoyed special admittance to our preserves at our Open Access Days. These one-day or weekend events allow the public to explore properties that are on their way to becoming preserves and contain important wildlife habitat, lands under restoration, and historic sites.
Palassou Ridge Special Access Event This normally reservation-only preserve opened to the public in summer 2019. Hundreds of people enjoyed the 12 miles of trail through self-guided exploration. This expanded access helped community members learn about the natural resources and restoration projects on this property as well as showcased the amazing work our field staff does to maintain and operate our preserves.
Volunteer Programs
Volunteers from throughout our community serve in a variety of public-facing roles, collectively giving more than 6,480 hours of their time over the past five years. They serve as Interpretive Hike Leaders, Trail Patrols, and Preserve Stewards, and help with community outreach programs.
In addition, hundreds of volunteers engage with the Open Space Authority as Land Stewards and Trail Masters in monthly stewardship projects throughout our preserves. Stewardship volunteers have participated in more than 90 projects and/or special student and corporate service days in the last five years. Alongside Authority field staff, these volunteers help us maintain trails, remove invasive species, take down old fences to create contiguous landscapes, and clean up habitats.
Volunteers from all roles consistently report that that they enjoy supporting local open space while also learning about natural resources and building community.
Flagging and building a trail isn't just a physical exercise; it's imagination at work, and an opportunity for exploration.
Silvia Maione, Volunteer Trail Master
Coyote Ridge Public Access Planning
The Authority is planning and designing expanded public access to Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve, which provides outstanding, expansive open space just 10 miles from downtown San Jose. Docent-led programs will offer guided recreational access and environmental education, allowing participants to take in sweeping views and spring wildflowers while protecting rare habitat and sensitive species. A partnership with the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council will provide additional guided access to the preserve and the Ridge Trail.
North Coyote Valley Conservation Area
Together with the City of San Jose and POST, the Authority seized a once-in-a-generation opportunity to purchase 937 acres in North Coyote Valley in a massive conservation deal that represents one of the nation’s first significant investments in natural infrastructure to benefit nature and people. The $93.5 million purchases from two willing sellers conserved the South Bay’s largest remaining freshwater wetland, Laguna Seca, and significant undeveloped natural floodplains upstream of San Jose. Leveraging $5M from the Authority and funds from 2018 Measure T, this unique public-private partnership makes San Jose one of the first cities in the nation to significantly invest infrastructure funding in nature-based solutions to address flood risk reduction, water supply and water quality benefits to its human and natural communities.
Santa Teresa Foothills
The Authority's purchase of 52 acres in the Santa Teresa Foothills preserved a historic quarry site marked by unique sandstone outcroppings, important habitat, and outstanding views across the Almaden Valley. This purchase is the first step in an eventual network of open space and trails on the Santa Teresa Ridge.
Connecting Rancho to Sierra Azul
The purchase of two critical properties in 2018 provided the missing connection for 31,000 acres of protected open space between Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve and Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. Though the keystone properties are only 159 and 325 acres respectively, they serve as essential puzzle pieces that will allow wildlife to roam a wide area and set the stage for new regional trail linkages. One property was purchased from the Geiger Family trust in partnership with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the second, which includes more than a mile of Barrett Creek, was purchased in partnership with POST.
Key Linkage in Santa Cruz Mountains
The Authority, in partnership with POST, protected an undeveloped and largely untouched 242-acre parcel that is a key linkage between open space in the Santa Cruz Mountains. A pivotal piece of the regional preservation puzzle, the 2019 purchase of the Martinez properties links Authority’s Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve to its Mount Chual Preserve while expanding existing east-west connections to Midpen’s Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. The purchase includes critical wildlife movement corridors between three protected preserves and opens new possibilities for growing an interconnected trail network.
The Open Space Authority works in an area renowned for its beautiful open space, unique natural resources, and productive farms and ranchlands. A growing population, steady development pressures, and a changing climate pose continual threats to the region’s health and sustainability.
To plan and manage a sustainable network of open space preserves, the Authority must be resourceful, innovative, and effective. The Authority is guided by the Santa Clara Valley Greenprint, a 30-year roadmap that identifies goals, priorities, and strategies for land conservation – and highlights opportunities for partnerships and funding to support these efforts.
The Authority leads new research, partnerships, and initiatives to plan and steward a vibrant network of interconnected open spaces, trails, wildlife habitat, and thriving agricultural lands. All of this supports the Authority’s vision to build livable communities, sustain a vibrant economy, create healthy urban areas, and to protect beautiful open spaces and ecosystems.
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Restoring Pajaro River Agricultural Preserve
Restoration and enhancement of important riparian habitat in the South Pajaro River Agricultural Preserve provides a range of community benefits including wildlife protection, flood management, and support for local agriculture. The restored riparian corridor provides important wildlife habitat in the midst of a working landscape, connecting two million acres of habitat for wide-ranging mammals such as mountain lions, bobcats, and badgers. It will also improve water quality and support the local farming legacy.
Protecting Habitat and Farmland at North Pajaro River Agricultural Preserve
In early 2020, six dozen third graders from Gilroy helped restore a critical watershed and protect local agriculture by installing a hedgerow. After some classroom lessons on watershed science and local agriculture, the students planted a 1,400-foot hedgerow of native plants along the edge of an organic farm at the preserve. The line of shrubs will improve water quality, provide wildlife and pollinator habitat, serve as a windbreak, and minimize erosion and weeds. The hedgerow will also serve as a filter to reduce pesticide drift from neighboring non-organic farms, allowing the tenant farmer to maintain his organic certification.
Studying Wildlife
To ensure that the Authority is able to protect wildlife over the long-term, the agency and partners have conducted a number of studies to better understand the habitat requirements, breeding behavior, and movements of some of our wildlife.
Biologists from San Jose State are studying the burrowing owl on Authority lands, which helps understand how best to protect habitat for this imperiled bird. Two studies have focused on the habitat preferences and movements of bobcats, California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, and Western pond turtle in Coyote Valley, including barriers to their movement. Finally, the Authority prepared a 2019 report with recommendations for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions on Monterey Road and facilitating movement for wildlife in Coyote Valley.
Restoring Coyote Valley South Meadow
At Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, the Authority restored an 8.5-acre meadow that is an important floodplain for Coyote Creek. This reduces the risk of downstream flooding, replenishes groundwater, and helps protect local drinking water. The project, completed in 2017, successfully reduced erosion and slowed the flow of rainwater in the Coyote Creek watershed. Authority crews removed the agricultural drainage ditches, reshaped the creek, and planted vegetation so that water now filters through the soil, percolating down to refill the aquifer underlying the valley.
Restoring Ponds at Coyote Ridge
Ranchlands have become increasingly important for native frogs and salamanders, which rely on stock ponds for breeding habitat. At the Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve, the Authority and Valley Habitat Agency have restored two former ranch stock ponds so they can once again capture and hold water during the rainy season, providing breeding habitat for the threatened California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog.
To learn more about local open space, the plants and animals that live there, and opportunities to get outside and explore, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.
