December Conservation Corner

Newt - Carolyn Knight

Conservation Corner

The Newts of Alma Bridge Road On December 8th over 100 community members provided public comment urging Midpen to prioritize protection of the newt population on Alma Bridge Rd by Lexington Reservoir, Los Gatos. Many comments came from our own SCVAS members! Midpen has prioritized newt conservation, let's hope Santa Clara County follows suit! Watch for alerts and help us advocate for the newts in 2022! To sign up to volunteer with the Newt Patrol, see https://www.bioblitz.club/newts.

Coyote Valley in 2022 On December 14th, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a climate resilience district in Coyote Valley! This, along with San Jose City Council’s November decision, will ensure Coyote Valley is protected as open space, habitat and agriculture into the future. We hope that landowners will have resources to protect water and enhance habitat on their lands - for example - plant crops and harvest in ways that allow the endangered tri-colored blackbirds to breed successfully, plant hedgerows for songbirds and milkweed for monarch butterflies, and create habitat for burrowing owls. We’ll be asking all of you to help us speak for birds and butterflies in Coyote Valley!

Trails on Valley Water properties In December, following 7 years of advocacy by SCVAS and other environmental groups, the Valley Water Board of Directors established guidelines for public trails along creeks. These new guidelines will help protect riparian and aquatic ecosystems and help balance human access to nature with healthy habitats. We have been urging Valley Water to add habitat protection guidelines to their public trails since 2015 and are encouraged by the decision!

Plastic Turf: Giulianna’s Op-ed Published in the Los Gatan On December 8th, the Los Gatan published our very own Environmental Advocacy Assistant Giulianna Pendleton’s op-ed on the dangers of installing artificial turf in elementary schools. Please take a moment to read this opinion on what artificial turf would mean for birds and wildlife, children’s health, and plastic pollution.

Help Save the Newts!

Why did the newt cross the road? To breed!

During the rainy season, Pacific Newts migrate from woodland habitat to breeding sites in creeks, ponds, and reservoirs. In Santa Clara County, thousands of Pacific newts are killed every year on Alma Bridge road along Lexington Reservoir. This mortality has been documented by Merav Vonshak and volunteers from the Newt Patrol and a recently published study, and reported on in the latest Midpen Newsletter. A modeled population extinction curve for the newts of the Lexington Reservoir area shows that local extinction is predicted in about 50 years, but the decimation of the population to a small fraction of its 2020 -2021 numbers can be expected to happen within about 15 years (see graph). This level of roadkill, in conjunction with climate change highlights the importance of quick solutions to help the newts avoid local extinction.

How You Can Help

A. Submit a public comment or attend the Midpen Regional Open Space Authority December 8th online meeting at 7PM. To submit a comment, please fill in this form to allow your comments to be read into the record (see directions below). This will allow your comments to be read into the record.

What to enter into the comment section of the form

Say a few words about yourself and why you care, and add, "I am writing to thank Midpen for working to help the pacific newts of the Alma Bridge Road area. The high levels of mortality on the road, exacerbated by climate change, can soon drive our newt population to local extinction. Please prioritize, budget, and continue working with the County and other partners to implement solutions that will save the newts on Alma Bridge road and in the Lexington Reservoir area. We have no time to lose."

How to fill the form:

Select Meeting Date from the scroll down menu: “December 8: Board Of Directors”

Answer "Is this a comment about a specific board item?" as “YES"

Agenda Item: “Informational Memoranda”

Please check one: "Neutral"

Answer "Where did you hear about this meeting?"

Choose one of the following that apply: “Other”

Enter “Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society”.

Enter your name and city of residence

Enter your email

C: Please choose “Read into the record by the clerk during the board meeting”

A window will open for you to submit up to 250 words

You can utilize some of the talking points above for verbal or written comments.

B. Attend the meeting on December 8 at 7PM

Zoom Meeting Link Note that if you wish to speak at the meeting you will need to fill the form as shown above and choose "Oral Comment" under "Comment Type."

Thank you,

Shani Kleinhaus

Environmental Advocate

Action Alert: Los Gatos

Elementary Schools: Places for Nature, Not Plastic!

Los Gatos Union School District is renovating 3 elementary schools in Los Gatos: Louise Van Meter, Daves Avenue, and Blossom Hill. Conversion from natural grass to artificial turf is proposed as part of these plans! We need your help to ensure our elementary schools’ play areas are free from plastic!

We appreciate LGUSD staff for recommending all 3 sports fields remain natural grass. However, we do not support staff recommendations asserting artificial turf as safe for use for future school renovations, nor for recommending artificial turf within courtyard and school corridor design plans.

Elementary school play areas are spaces for children to connect with nature and learn about wildlife: watch a robin hunt for earthworms, see a ladybug crawl on a flower, and watch rabbits and geese run across the fields. At the most recent community meeting, many speakers spoke of their children’s love for seeing rabbits and playing with wildflowers at the schools. Artificial turf could take these experiences away from them.

The school design plans will be finalized at the November 18th LGUSD Board meeting at 6:30pm at the district office.

Please email LGUSD staff and the School Board before November 17th to say no to plastic at our elementary schools! You can also attend the Board meeting at the district office (17010 Roberts Rd, Los Gatos) at 6:30pm to provide comments in person.

Please see below for a sample email:

Send to:

Board: boardmembers@lgusd.org

Superintendent Paul Johnson: pjohnson@lgusd.org

Terese McNamee: tmcnamee@lgusd.org

Subject: November 18th Agenda Item: Elementary School Renovations

Dear Superintendent Johnson and Board Trustees,

My name is ________ and I am a resident/community member of Los Gatos. [My children attended LGUSD schools/I attended LGUSD school…]

I appreciate district staff’s recommendation to keep Blossom Hill, Van Meter, and Daves Ave sports field natural grass. I do not support converting the courtyards and corridor areas to artificial turf and ask that they stay natural spaces with native plants. I am also concerned over recommendations that assert that artificial turf would be safe to use for future school renovations.

We have an opportunity to ensure our schools surround children with life - native plant gardens, trees, even lawns - not plastic. School can connect children to the living world outside the classroom and allow them to enjoy and learn through dirt, grass and trees. Access to vegetation and nature, at all scales, is important to the development of children's physical and mental health, senses, curiosity, academics and cognitive ability.

Louise Van Meter, Daves Avenue, and Blossom Hill should all foster healthy learning environments, creative spaces, and a connection to nature for our children. There is a global movement to reduce plastic and reconnect with nature; let’s be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Thank you for your consideration on this pertinent issue,

Your Name

The Future of Coyote Valley

North Coyote Valley Conservation Area

“The value of Coyote Valley is in being a protected area that is rural” - Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate SCVAS

Environmental groups and community members have been mobilizing for years to preserve this critical wildlife corridor and home to over 200 bird species sightings.

Today at 5:00pm San Jose City Council will be considering the future of Coyote Valley: change the land use designation to open space and agriculture or keep as industrial development. You can join the meeting and give public comment in favor of preserving Coyote Value as open space here: https://sanjoseca.zoom.us/j/93052835954.

Check out this article from the San Jose Spotlight to learn more:

San Jose’s Coyote Valley faces vote for preservation

https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-san-joses-coyote-valley-faces-vote-for-preservation-open-space/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter