December Updates

Stevens Creek by Carolyn Knight

Action Alerts

A few minutes of your time can have an impact on our environment. Here are a few opportunities to engage:

Sargent Ranch (Jusritac)

The proposed Sargent Quarry Project threatens land that is of immense cultural importance to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. This land also provides habitat to oak woodlands, grasslands and sycamore alluvial forests and supports many species of native birds, including burrowing owls. Please:

• Join 20000 people and sign a petition to Santa Clara County asking all elected officials in Santa Clara County to Protect Amah Mutsun Sacred Grounds from the Proposed Quarry at Sargent Ranch (Juristac): https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

• Write a very short email to the Palo Alto City Council (city.council@CityofPaloAlto.org) to express your support for Item 19 on the December 2nd agenda, a resolution in support of the efforts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band 1) to preserve Juristac/Sargent Ranch as open space in perpetuity and to regain access to their cultural and spiritual sites at Juristac 2) retain the name of the open space as Juristac and 3) urge the County of Santa Clara to deny approval of permits for the proposed Sargent Ranch Quarry Project.

Everyone Can Watch a Creek 

• Please watch our creeks! As you walk or drive by a waterway, please take a look at the flow. If something looks amiss (the water is of a wrong color, dead fish, trash) please let advocate@scvas.org know, and provide location, time of observation, and if possible, a photo? And naturally, if you see something lovely, please share!

The Newts Patrol Seeks Volunteers

• The rainy season has started, and newts will again attempt to cross the hazardous Alma Bridge Road. Santa Clara County Roads and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space are slowly making progress on a design for newt crossings, but for now, the Newt Patrol seeks volunteers to help document newts killed by traffic on the road. If you are interested in helping out, please contact https://www.bioblitz.club/newts.

Mountain View Biodiversity and Urban Forest Strategy 

• There is still time to respond to the survey on the City of Mountain view Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. Mountain View is the first city in our region to embark on a plan for biodiversity, and we hope others will follow. You can help by taking an online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BiodiversityMV_Survey_English 

As you fill the survey, note that you may need to use comments to convey some of the elements that are critical to the enhancement of habitat for birds and pollinators in our urban/suburban landscapes.

Opportunities to Lead and Learn in Environmental Advocacy

Two Opportunities to Lead and Learn in Environmental Advocacy!

We’re excited to share two fantastic opportunities to enhance your environmental advocacy skills and connect with like-minded individuals. Act now—deadlines are fast approaching!

Sierra Club Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP 2025)

Learn, Act, and Connect for a Better Environment
👉 Sign Up Here
First session: January 9, 2025

This hybrid program includes:

• Six monthly sessions (January–June 2025, second Thursdays)

• Presentations by Sierra Club leaders, award-winning films, and engaging speakers

• Participation in ongoing campaigns.

The Holiday Social & Program Kickoff is on Friday, December 6th, at 6:30 PM, at 3921 E Bayshore Rd, Palo Alto, CA. Join us to learn more!

Scholarships are available for those with financial need. Past participants have gone on to play pivotal roles in grassroots organizations and government agencies!

Green Foothills Leadership Program

Amplify Your Environmental Advocacy. Lead with Community.
👉 Learn More & Apply
Application Deadline: November 15, 2024

This eight-month program offers training in effective and inclusive advocacy, focusing on environmental justice and conservation. You'll gain the skills to lead initiatives and step into roles within nonprofits, public agencies, and community groups.

• Training presented in English and Spanish

• Alumni network supporting ongoing leadership and activism

• Over 270 local changemakers trained since 2013

November Updates and Alerts

ACTION ALERT: Mountain View's Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan:

Respond to a survey:   (Just 7 short minutes of your time to support biodiversity.)

Your input can help shape the City of Mountain View's Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. Please take this online survey in English 参与调查 Spanish or Russian. Mountain View is the first city in our region to embark on a plan for biodiversity, and we hope others will follow. Let us help Mountain View in this important process.

When you fill the survey, please think like a bird, or a butterfly, or a bat that needs food and shelter to thrive in the city! For example, consider the use of locally native plants and trees, reducing light pollution, allowing “wildness” in landscaping and maintenance, reducing the use of pesticides and overall, investing in our vulnerable wildlife (bumble bees, Burrowing Owls), migratory species, local trees and canopy.

You may also participate in a two-hour Stakeholder Workshop on November 7th to support the development of a Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan for the City of Mountain View 6-8 pm at the Rengstorff Community Center, Redwood Hall. Please sign up HERE.

For more information, see https://collaborate.mountainview.gov/biodiversity

Send a quick email: Biodiversity (5 Minutes)

The Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) is taking place in Columbia this week. It seems that the future of biodiversity on our planet is not very bright, and we should do all we can to protect species and their habitats in the Bay Area and beyond.

Please send a message to COP 16 Delegates to express our hope for a sustainable world where birds and nature can thrive: https://act.audubon.org/a/messages-of-hope

Watch our Environmental Advocacy Assistant Julianne Wang’s presentation on migratory birds, presented to the Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission on October 23, 2024. Watch the recording here.

With over 23,000 images entered into the competition, ‘When Worlds Collide’ by Patricia Homonylo was declared Overall Winner and Bird Photographer of the Year 2024. This photo of 4000 birds killed by colliding with buildings in Chicago highlights the importance of designing a Bird-friendly urban/suburban landscape in our communities.

Help requested: Palo Alto Bird Safe Design and Dark Sky ordinances will come back to discussion by the Planning Commission on Wednesday, October 30th. If you are available that evening, and willing to speak or to cede your time to our advocates, please email Shani (Advocate@scvas.org). The City Council will be making a final decision in November (we hope).

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.