American Avocet and chick: Chris Overington
Dear SCVBA community,
The following Action Alerts are REALLY important, and altogether take just a few minutes for each action. Birds, wildlife and habitats depend on OUR VOICES and when we speak together, we are effective (see some of our recent successes below).
LOCAL: Coyote Valley Regional Connections Survey: Do you love birding in Coyote Valley? Please respond to the survey and let the Open Space Authority know! (5 minutes)
STATE: Call your California senator and your assemblyman - see our UPDATED Alert on SB 131 for more information. Interested in seeing how an unedited SB 131 could impact your area? Find your district’s impact implications here. It is easier than you think, takes only a few minutes, and is REALLY CRITICAL!
COUNTRY: The federal Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected roadless forests since 2001, keeping them free from logging, road-building, and other industrial development. Now the Trump administration wants to strip protections from 45 million of those acres. Road-building and logging in roadless forests will fragment habitats; disrupt wildlife migration routes; introduce invasive species; and bring noise, dust, pollution, and human pressure deep into the quiet backcountry, threatening already vulnerable and endangered plants and animals.
We rarely ask you to comment on federal action , but now we are: Please COMMENT (https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FS-2025-0001/document) before September 19, 2025. Please make a unique contribution - meaning it is not a copy of a form letter. You may incorporate any of the following into your own comment:
Roadless areas protect intact habitat for over 1,600 wildlife species, including threatened and endangered species.
Roadless areas maintain connectivity for wide-ranging species such as grizzly bears, wolves, and migratory birds.
Roadless areas function as breeding areas that replenish wildlife populations, supporting hunting, fishing, and recreation over the long term.
Roadless forests protect drinking water for 60 million Americans by safeguarding headwaters from sediment and pollution caused by roads.
Roadless areas reduce flood risks by preserving natural floodplains and watersheds.
Updates / Good News:
Mountain View - Bird Friendly Design
Mountain View has adopted mandatory Citywide Bird Friendly Design Standards. The city council voted unanimously to accept our recommendations, which substantially strengthened the ordinance.
Mountain View - Cuesta Park and Annex
A Well-attended Community Meeting in Mountain View showed overwhelming opposition to paving parts of Cuesta Park and Cuesta Park Annex and other parkland to construct Pickleball Courts. While development of Pickleball at Cuesta is not off the table, the City is now looking into a Public-Private partnership, potentially a parking lot in an industrial area, away from residents and nature.
See MV Voice Story
Valley Water - Pacheco Dam
After years of advocacy and raising awareness about the ecological and financial risks of the proposed Pacheco Dam expansion, the Valley Water Board of Directors voted on August 26, 2025, to indefinitely suspend the project.
Together with many partner organizations, SCVBA has consistently called for an end to the Pacheco Dam Expansion Project. We wrote letters, issued action alerts, and reported in our newsletters. We submitted comments on Environmental Impact Reports, and testified before both the Valley Water Board of Directors and the California Water Commission (see quote here).
The proposed project threatened to destroy critical wildlife habitat, drown miles of stream corridor and rare sycamore forest, flood part of Henry Coe State Park, and saddle the public with billions in costs.
A decisive moment came in July 2025, when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation denied Valley Water’s request to import Central Valley Project water into the reservoir. This rejection effectively undermined the project’s viability, eliminating key opportunities for partnership and federal funding.
This outcome is a major victory for endangered species, open space, and fiscal responsibility. It demonstrates the power of collective action to protect our environment.
Special thanks to our EAC member and Sierra Club Loma Prieta advocate Katja Irvin for her leadership and guidance. See San Jose Spotlight and Mercury News stories.
Santa Clara County - Harry Road
In June, the County Planning Commission halted processing of the Gavello Glen Builder’s Remedy project on Harry Road because the application was incomplete and missing required planning documents. The applicant appealed this determination. We sent a joint letter to the commission, which ultimately decided to deny the appeal.
Housing is undoubtedly needed in our region, but like other Builder’s Remedy proposals, the Harry Road project would have been pure sprawl into rural, agricultural land between Alamitos and Calero Creeks. The Bay Area Greenprint identifies the site as “very valuable habitat” for threatened and endangered species, while the Conservation Lands Network map highlights the portion nearest Alamitos Creek as “essential to conservation goals.” A 2019 UC Santa Cruz study also documented bobcats using the site as a corridor between the two creeks. Fire hazards and seismic risks added to the long list of concerns about building in this location.
Although these environmental and safety concerns are serious, the Commission’s decision was based solely on the application’s failure to meet required deadlines.
We thank Planning Commissioners Levy, Escobar, Chang-Hetterly and Cohen for their diligence and vote.
Thank you for supporting our conservation work, and protecting birds and their ecosystems!
Thank you,
Shani