Loma Prieta Chapter eNewsletter: January, Volume 1
January 13, 2025
YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Email Brisbane City Council to protect San Bruno Mountain.
► Read fond volunteer reflections on Hiker's Hut and then sign up to volunteer.
► Participate in California Coastal Commission's California King Tides Project.
► Learn about local youth at Tru Players raising money for our Chapter through theater.
► Read about our concerns around the United States Army Corps of Engineers navigational dredging and Route 25 corridor improvement project.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through January.
Protect San Bruno Mountain
A massive threat looms over one of our most cherished natural treasures. The City of Brisbane is considering a plan to build a massive 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse, 100 feet tall, right in the heart of San Bruno Mountain, at the historic Guadalupe Quarry. This industrial facility would bring hundreds of workers (1,500!) and an incredible amount of traffic through our city and into the heart of sensitive habitat. The City Council will meet on January 16th and they need to hear from YOU before then.
Chapter volunteers Bret Andersen and Linda Barbosa recently reflected on the importance of our Hiker's Hut in the local community. Learn about the continued commitment Bret and Linda, and other volunteers through the years, have made to maintaining the hut, ensuring it continues to be a strong space to build community, the hut's future outlook, and its legacy.
California Coastal Commission’s California King Tides Project: January 2025
What are King Tides? They are predictable high tides that occur annually. King Tides form naturally from the alignment of the sun, moon and earth's gravitational forces. The King Tides Project is a visual representation (your photos) of what SLR may look like for the Bay Area. It helps determine which areas may have the greatest impact from SLR and allows decision makers to be informed with planning and adaptation. See our King Tides Project webinar recording for more information. King Tides will occur: January 11 - 12, 2025. Learn how you can participate in the project.
Opportunity for Public Comment on Draft Environmental Assessment/Impact Report for United States Army Corps of Engineers Navigational Dredging
"We request two main modifications to this application: 1. Institute a dedicated sediment testing protocol for contamination by DDT, its derivatives, and other organochlorines, so that sediment from the Richmond Inner Harbor and the Richmond Outer harbor is not relocated for shoreline use until areas proposed for dredging have been cleared by testing for contamination. 2. Either develop a detailed description of a proposed Stege Marsh sediment deposition plan or institute a complete exclusion of Stege Marsh from this application as a prospective recipient of sediment. Stege Marsh can be addressed more effectively in a future document that deals with all the challenges of that location and includes community outreach. 3. In addition, because of the application’s incomplete proposals relevant to the Richmond shoreline, a public comment period is requested to review the final draft of the EA/EIR."
Four Years of Hard Work Paid Off in East Palo Alto!
After four years of advocacy and debate, East Palo Alto’s City Council approved a scaled-back expansion plan for the shoreline Ravenswood Business District (RBD) on December 17th. While the plan remains substantial in size and impact, it now includes a majority of our policy recommendations to protect Baylands ecosystems, enhance sea level rise resilience, and minimize harm to the community. This milestone reflects an intensive and collaborative effort to balance growth, environmental stewardship, and environmental justice. Read how Bay Alive helped shape this thoughtful vision for the future!
Knee Deep Times: "Vote Cinches Robust Regional Response to Sea Level Rise"
"After RSAP’s first release in September, there was push and there was pull. Local governments and others objected to some of the mandatory standards proposed, calling for 'flexibility.' A November draft tacked in that direction, changing quite a few 'musts' to 'should' and demoting some of the Standards to 'planning tips.' Now it was the turn of the environmental coalition, some forty groups, to decry a 'watering-down.' Further redrafting ensued.
The result of these contending pressures seems, surprisingly, to please nearly everyone nearly well enough. 'We seem to have found the sweet spot,' says BCDC planning director Jessica Fain. The Sierra Club’s Gita Dev agrees: 'We are very happy with the results of the RSAP. Now,' she goes on, 'it’s time to get serious about execution.'”
"The Millbrae-Burlingame Shoreline Resilience Project is timely in that BCDC has just released its Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), which requires all Shoreline Adaptation Plans to meet BCDC’s RSAP guidelines. The RSAP’s One Bay Vision brings the whole region together to promote collaboration, protect shared assets and achieve common goals. These guidelines ensure a strategic, and forward-looking regional response to sea level rise that accommodates local variations and protects both vulnerable communities and a broad spectrum of public “assets,” including the societal and economic benefits provided by our Bay and its habitats as we plan for the realities with which sea level rise is confronting us. The RSAP emphasises that the health of the Bay habitats is as much at risk from sea level rise as the communities and infrastructure along the shoreline. For this reason, we are extremely concerned about planning efforts that could lead to potential harms to the Bay ecosystems such as encroachment, with fill, onto habitat in the Bay and we wish to express our deep concern over the proposed alternatives."
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
Learn how nature can help us fight sea level rise with cost-effective and sustainable solutions. Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Local Youth Raising Money for our Chapter through Theater
The Trū Players are a unique performance group of students age 5 - 11 sponsored by Trū, a progressive microschool in Palo Alto that provides transformative learning experiences to students throughout their elementary education.
Trū engages children with interdisciplinary projects that weave together science, literature, social studies, and the arts in the pursuit of fundamental questions about the world and our experience in it. As a part of their investigations, students rehearsed and performed a 90-minute play called If My Earth Were Speaking, a dramatic rendering of the events in the lives of two iconic environmental writers, Rachel Carson and John Muir. Learn more about Tru Players.
COMMENT LETTER
Notice of Preparation for the State Route 25 Corridor Improvement Project
The Notice of Preparation (NOP) identifies potential impacts to federally and state-listed species (e.g., California tiger salamander), nesting birds, wetlands, riparian habitats, and wildlife migration corridors. While the planned studies and consultations are commendable, the EIR must include the following: 1. Clear Criteria and Measures of Success for Mitigation; 2. Fish Passage and Wildlife Migration Corridors; 3. Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; 4. Agency Consultations.
We did it! Thanks to your advocacy and support, on December 5th, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) adopted a groundbreaking Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). This monumental achievement is a transformative step toward protecting Bay ecosystems and communities in the face of sea level rise.
Do you have hiking and/or camping equipment in good condition that you're ready to share with others? Donate them to the Loma Prieta Chapter! We have multiple channels to share them with those in need. Tents, sleeping bags, child carriers, and emergency equipment are especially needed.
Plantings (January 19th and 20th), and Cleanup (January 26th) from our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
One of the best ways to safeguard a thriving and just future is by ensuring that your Loma Prieta Chapter remains a champion for the environment of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito Counties. Naming us as a beneficiary in your bequest will provide meaningful and enduring resources that will allow continued local and powerful environmental activism.
Please contact our Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman for the specific language for your estate planning and/or read more here. For additional information about planning a bequest please contact Julia Curtis, (800) 932-4270.
Photographers, see the great images in our Chapter Annual Summaries and help protect local nature with your images! Share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, to inspire local residents to support Loma Prieta Chapter work. Please contact Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman.