October Updates

Airport Expansion, Burrowing Owls, Coyote Valley

Are you a Palo Alto Resident who is passionate about birds and nature? Do you have a passion for parks, open space, and recreation? The Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) advises the City Council on matters pertaining to Open Space, Parks, Golf, and Recreation. Special Recruitment is now open for one seat on the PRC. The open seat is an unexpired term position ending on March 31st, 2026. If this sounds like an opportunity for you or someone you know, then volunteer as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Apply ONLINE by October 6, 2024.  Please contact Advocate@scvas.org if you have questions.

Palo Alto Airport Expansion: Great news and a request

The Palo Alto City Council rejected all four expansion proposals that aimed to extend the City's airport’s runway into the Baylands Nature Preserve by the duck pond. Please email Palo Alto’s Mayor Greer Stone and the City Council (city.council@CityofPaloAlto.org) and thank them for protecting our baylands and the birds that depend on them.

The prospect of extending the runways and expanding taxiways and parking at the Palo Alto airport drew a strong and wide opposition. Our letter to the city council was joined by 14 organizations that represent environmental justice, Climate change, birds and nature. Dozens of people, including the Honorable Enid Pearson, Emily Renzel and elected officials from East Palo Alto and Menlo Park all said no to expansion. 

Among other concerns, our letter stated, “280 bird species have been recorded in the Baylands preserve. Some of them, including the common yellowthroat, the rail and the Alameda song sparrow, depend on the lagoon habitat … Encroaching into this habitat by filling the wetlands and/or by moving airport activity and operations closer to their habitat … would harm these species and the many others who rely for their survival on Palo Alto’s preservation of the Baylands”.  We expressed opposition to any expansion or increased activity at the airport  that would degrade habitat in the Baylands and increase noise, lead deposition and greenhouse gas emissions. 

The Council’s discussion made it clear that extending the runway into the baylands was a non-starter because it would require a vote of residents to un-dedicate parkland. The discussion therefore focused on possible expansion within the airport boundary. Some council members were open to minor expansion while others cautioned that any expansion could accommodate larger planes, increase aircraft traffic, or subject the city to additional commitments to the FAA. 

Of the many topics brought up by the public and discussed at the meeting, perhaps the most critical is the continued sale of Leaded Aviation Fuel (AVGAS) at the Palo Alto airport. Lead emissions have no safe levels. The EPA determined that emissions from aircraft engines that operate on leaded fuel may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare. Not only people, but also plants and animals in the wetlands are harmed by lead emissions. Unfortunately, Federal and State laws mandate sale of AVGAS in Palo Alto and other airports that have received Federal (FAA) funding until 2031. 

We applaud Mayor Stone and the Palo Alto city council for directing staff not to consider extending the runway. We  hope that any work contemplated within the airport boundary will not increase  impacts to birds and the people who enjoy them, or the level of noise, greenhouse gas emissions and lead deposition in the natural and human communities that surround the airport.

Speak for the Birds: STOP Palo Alto Airport Expansion

American Avocets: Garrett Lau

Speak for the Birds: STOP Palo Alto Airport Expansion

What is happening?

On Monday, September 16, the Palo Alto City Council will discuss alternatives for the expansion of the Palo Alto Airport. The proposed alternatives include extension of the runway into wetlands at the Bayland Nature Preserve, expansion of runways closer to the baylands and intensification of operations, including more parking and pavement and accommodating larger aircraft!

Airport staff suggest that this expansion is needed to increase safety and improve operations. However, the FAA does not require any changes which means that the airport can continue to provide service as it does now.
To learn about the alternatives, you may click here to download the staff report. The description of project alternatives begins on page 8. Click here for the City Council meeting agenda document (Look for Item 3).

Why is this important?  

The Palo Alto Airport is located in the midst of our most precious assets: the Baylands Nature Preserve, the lagoon that envelopes the Duck Pond, Byxbee Park, San Francisquito Creek and the San Francisco Bay. The Baylands are a critical resource for millions of birds, and hundreds of thousands of people who visit the Baylands and enjoy their beauty. The airport and its operations are already imposing a heavy toll on the Baylands, and on our neighbors in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and the St. Francis and Duveneck neighborhoods in Palo Alto, including noise pollution and lead deposition.

Airport expansion, changes in runway location, increase in number of flights and ongoing use of fossil and leaded fuel could exacerbate impacts on the Baylands’ habitat and ecosystems and the people who visit and live close by. The locations being considered for expansion would take away invaluable, non-replaceable wetlands, increase greenhouse gas emissions and increase noise pollution and lead deposition on our Baylands and communities.

What can you do?

1) In advance of the meeting, you can send an email to Mayor Stone and the Palo Alto City Council members: City.Council@CityofPaloAlto.org.

Talking Points:

  • Please tell the City Council about yourself and why you care. Tell them YOUR story. Tell them why the Baylands Nature Preserve, migratory birds, education programs, the golf course, the trails and other park amenities that are important to you.

  • Talk about how the airport has impacted you or your neighborhood through noise pollution or air pollution. Tell the council that you don't want more of it.

  • Ask the Council not to expand the airport into the Palo Alto baylands or other designated parkland. Ask them not to move the runway closer to wetlands.  Ask them also not to introduce any new asphalt anywhere - within or outside of the airport property.

  • Ask the Council not to take any action that may intensify the operations and the number of flights at the airport, or allow larger planes to use the runways.

2) Join us either virtually or in-person at the Palo Alto City Council meeting on Monday, September 16, or send an email to the City Council (see talking points above).

In-Person Instructions

  • You can park underneath Palo Alto City Hall at 250 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301. The parking lot entrance can be found on Ramona Street.

  • Inside the City Council Chambers you will find a table on the right which contains speaker cards. Take a speaker card, fill out your name and that you are interested in speaking on Agenda Item 3. Hand your completed card to the City Clerk, who sits at a desk close to the audience seating.

  • Our item will start at approximately 6:30pm. There will be a presentation, then questions by council members, and then the public will speak (that's us). The clerk will call your name when it is your time to speak.

  • You can prepare a 2-minute or less public comment. Depending on the number of speakers, your time to speak may be reduced to 1 minute.

Zoom Instructions

  • Click this link to join the meeting: https://cityofpaloalto.zoom.us/j/362027238

  • When item 3 begins, click the “raise hand” button on Zoom to get in queue for your public comment.

  • The clerk will call your name and ask you to un-mute your microphone when it is your time to speak.

3) Sign and share the Petition

change.org/PAbaylands

Mountain View: Mayday for Burrowing Owls

Burrowing Owls at Shoreline: Teresa Cheng

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday: Burrowing Owls at risk in Mountain View

Synopsis

The City of Mountain View has been on the front lines of Burrowing Owl conservation and recovery efforts since 2012. This summer, City staff dropped the ball. Biologists have been absent from Shoreline since July and habitat enhancement, as well as critical Burrowing Owl recovery programs, has been either suspended or badly mismanaged. Despite the documented commitment of the City Council to the Burrowing Owls and to biodiversity, the future of Burrowing Owls and other vulnerable species at Shoreline is now uncertain. In 2023, there were only 51 adult Burrowing Owls (forming 21 successful breeding pairs) in the entire South Bay Area. Of these, 17 adult Owls including 5 successful pairs were at Shoreline. We cannot allow the protection of Shoreline Burrowing Owls to erode further.

What is happening?

Mountain View’s previously adopted and outstanding “Burrowing Owl Preservation Plan” and “Shoreline Wildlife Management Plan” had been implemented at Shoreline Park by Mountain View’s expert staff biologist, Mr. Philip Higgins, as well as an additional biologist and scores of devoted volunteers. These programs focus on improving habitat and monitoring Burrowing Owls populations. At the same time, the biologists have been implementing synergistic Burrowing Owl conservation programs which are sponsored and funded by Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency. The most successful of these programs is the Juvenile Burrowing Owl Overwintering program. 

This program captures juvenile Owls during the breeding season, protects them over the winter, then places genetically-matched pairs in small enclosures to allow them to breed. Some of the young Owls from the enclosures are then released, and some are taken back into the program for overwintering or captive breeding. Pairs of Owls are matched to increase genetic diversity and thus, increase the viability of the Burrowing Owl population and the success of the recovery program in the South Bay. In the spring of 2024, several pairs of wild Burrowing Owls nested at Shoreline. There were also 3 enclosures, each containing a breeding pair of Burrowing Owls from the Overwintering program.

But since Mid-July, the Burrowing Owl biologists have been absent from Shoreline. The consequences of this unexplained absence is consequential:

  • The pairs of Owls in the enclosures, with their offspring, remained constrained weeks after they should have been released or retained for the Overwintering program, and

  • Monitoring of wild Burrowing Owls nests has stopped and thus, long term local and regional Burrowing Owl research was interrupted.

In a letter to Council, City staff suggest that they cannot discuss issues related to the month-long absence of staff biologists at Shoreline due to confidential personnel matters. They assert that they have been continuously implementing the Burrowing Owl Plan and the Wildlife Management Plan. We do not believe that this is an accurate representation of what has transpired at Shoreline since mid-July.

Furthermore, it seems that senior staff plans to replace the expert full-time staff biologist position with consulting services to provide project evaluations, and with potential agreements with the Habitat Agency or consultants for other Burrowing Owl services. However, a full-time staff position is a requirement of the Burrowing Owl Preservation Plan, and through the years we have seen many cases in which burrows were bulldozed even though Owls may have been underground. 

The welfare, care, and preservation of the Burrowing Owl population at Shoreline requires expertise based on academic and professional education and in-depth, day to day knowledge of the park, the kind of knowledge that comes from being there.

What you can do?

Talking Points

  • Please thank the City Council for its leadership during the past 12 years! Until this summer, Mountain View had been at the forefront of Burrowing Owl conservation and we appreciate this immensely!

  • Please ask the City Council to restore its leadership and public trust.

  • Please tell the City Council a little about yourself and why you care about Burrowing Owls and other native species at Shoreline and adjacent areas (such as Black Skimmers, White-tailed Kites, Monarch butterflies, egrets, and even jackrabbits). If you have volunteered for Shoreline conservation efforts, or love to birdwatch at Shoreline, please mention your personal connection and passion.

  • Please express to the City Council that Burrowing Owls are almost extirpated in our region. Implementation of the Mountain View Owl Preservation Plan and other conservation programs are critically needed if we are to save the owls from local extinction.

  • Please explain that the Burrowing Owls Preservation Plan and the Shoreline Wildlife Management Plan must be implemented under the supervision of a full-time biologist who is knowledgeable and passionate about the owls and other vulnerable species and who holds State and Federal permits to handle Burrowing owls. The very same Burrowing Owl biologist should also conduct any necessary monitoring, project evaluations and coordination to ensure that Owls are not inadvertently harmed.

  • Please ask the City Council how they will ensure that the action items and the requirements of the Burrowing Owls Preservation Plan and the Shoreline Wildlife Management Plan are implemented by staff.

If you are interested in a script for public comment, we are at your service! Please contact advocate@scvas.org and title your email “BUOW script please”.

Palo Alto: 10 minutes to protect the Palo Alto Baylands

Killdeer: Tom Grey

New Survey: Please take 10 minutes to save the Palo Alto Baylands!

What is happening?

Palo Alto is embarking on a Long Range Facilities & Sustainability Plan for the City’s airport. This Plan will guide the airport development for the next 20 years. Looking to accommodate increased future use and large airplanes, the City offers several alternatives for expanding the airport. All but the “no project” alternatives would encroach into Palo Alto parkland and Baylands. A new Survey is now available online, which illustrates the alternatives and asks for public preferences. The deadline to respond is July 15. Information about this project can be found here.

Why is it important?

Situated on the Pacific Flyway, Palo Alto Baylands provide habitat for 270 species of local and migratory bird species, and several endangered species. Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the Baylands and adjacent parklands for recreation, education, and relaxation. The Baylands are loved and appreciated by Palo Alto and East Palo Alto residents, and by visitors from other communities. As the sea level rises, the Baylands provide resilience and nature-based solutions to flood risks. Proposed Alternatives 2,4 and 5 of the proposed expansion of the airport threaten to fill the duck pond and marshlands. These alternatives include various configurations for lengthening or re-aligning runways, expanding aircraft parking, and altering levees to protect the airport from sea level rise. These alternatives will destroy habitat for resting and feeding during migration, negatively impacting the survival and breeding of numerous bird species. 

Alternative 3 would expand the airport into the golf course, thereby taking parkland away and filling freshwater wetlands on the golf course. This alternative will also pave a large open space area for aircraft parking.

All but the no-project alternative will destroy habitat for resting and feeding during migration, negatively impacting the survival and breeding of numerous bird species. Airport expansions and increased flights will intensify noise disturbance to birds, visitors to the baylands, and East Palo Alto residents, disrupting sensitive shorebird flocks, diminishing recreational spaces, and worsening the already significant disturbance to East Palo Alto residents. 

While the plan includes transitioning to clean solar power and unleaded aviation fuel, these upgrades do not mandate runway expansion. Any expansion of runways, support systems, or airport use will harm Baylands wildlife, the enjoyment of residents, and the community of East Palo Alto. Alternatives should be offered that can safely accommodate the sensitive habitat surrounding the airport.

What you can do?

Please find 10 minutes to respond to the survey! The survey is available here. Deadline is July 15th. Please read about the alternatives and scroll down to answer a few questions.

Please choose Alternative 1 (no-action) for all questions that ask you to rank or prioritize alternatives. When asked for an explanation, please say a few words about the value of the baylands to you and to the public, and consider social justice, education, and the protection of birds and nature. For example: “Expansion of the footprint and increased use of the airport will have a negative impact on birds and wildlife in the Baylands, on the people who enjoy the Baylands and Byxbee Park for education, recreation, and relaxation, and on the residents of the community of East Palo Alto.” 

In addition, please ask for a new, balanced alternative that focuses on resilience and sustainability features without expanding the footprint of the airport.

For example (mix and much as space allows):

  • The proposed alternatives do not provide a wide enough scope of possibilities and do not balance the needs of the airport with the needs of the community and the protection of nature. We need additional alternatives to be analyzed.

  • We need an alternative that maintains the current footprint of runways and aprons, add a vertiport at the south-west corner, and increase sustainability elements without expanding into parkland and wetlands.

  • Let's continue to accommodate airplane models that currently use the airport safely, but stop allowing use by more demanding airplanes that require runway expansion for safe operations. We need alternatives that increase sustainability features without increasing the paved footprint of the airport

Please say that the project needs to address environmental justice and the protection of nature at the baylands.