Loma Prieta Chapter eNewsletter: February, Volume 1
February 10, 2025
YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Email Santa Clara County Supervisors after the artificial turf ban did not pass.
► Register for the Bay Alive webinar on March 20th and learn how you can help locally.
► See our recommendations for Sierra Club's Board of Directors elections.
► Take action to protect Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve.
► Register for Wilderness First Aid training.
► Follow us on Bluesky as another way to stay up to date on all we do.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through February.
Update: Santa Clara County Artificial Turf Ban
A deep Thank You to everyone who showed up last week to urge the Santa Clara County Supervisors to ban new installations of plastic turf. Unfortunately the Supervisors could not get to a majority though three separate motions were made.
We are deeply grateful to Board President Otto Lee who proposed the ban and to Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga who supported the strictest version of the proposed ordinance. Supervisors Arena and Duong each supported separate motions for a lesser ban, though not with each other or today we would have a partial ban, while Supervisor Ellenberg steadfastly voted against all motions.
While no vote prevailed, we were inspired by our partners and allies. An amazing 104 public comments were made by citizens in the run-up to voting and 62 public comments were for the ban while there were 41 against (and one that didn't say). Read the full update and see our suggested action items.
Sierra Club's Board of Directors
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter recommends a vote for Chad Hanson, Maya Khosla, Nancy Muse and Igor Tregub in the upcoming election for the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors.
The exact closing date for the election, typically in late April, should be announced soon. Please be on the alert for the notification of ballot availability.
Basic/Wilderness First Aid
Saturday, February 22nd
Sunday, February 23rd
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Peninsula Conservation Center
Certification provided by the National Association for Search and Rescue, is valid for two years, and is included in the course fee. Textbook NOT included. There are two training options. 1) Basic Wilderness First Aid: Saturday only; $50 for Sierra Club members; $60 for non-members. 2) Wilderness First Aid: both days; $80 for Sierra Club members; $100 for non-members. Register today.
Follow Us on Bluesky
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter is now on Bluesky! Please take a moment to follow us @sierraclublp.bsky.social.
Stay up to date on all of the outings we offer, our conservation work, calls for action when we need your comments, the comment letters we submit, our Bay Alive Campaign work helping Bay shoreline communities prepare for sea level rise, and so much more. We hope to see you there!
The Bay is Rising, Let's Rise to the Challenge Together! Webinar | March 20th | 7:00 - 8:00 pm
Join our sea level rise action network to help safeguard our Bay communities and precious ecosystems before it’s too late.
In December 2024, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) adopted the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), a comprehensive framework to guide sea level rise planning for the entire Bay Area. This plan establishes robust regional guidelines and standards that local jurisdictions must follow to access prioritized state funding.
Now, it’s up to us to ensure that our communities implement the RSAP effectively to turn this strong plan into reality. Please join us on March 20 for our webinar "The Bay is Rising, Let's Rise to the Challenge Together!" to kick off this crucial campaign. Learn why the RSAP is so important, our key priorities for sea level rise adaptation, and how you can take action in your own community. As part of our sea level rise action network, you’ll receive tools and training to effectively advocate and take action locally to ensure strong, effective, and coordinated sea level rise adaptation all around the Bay.
Don’t you 💓 the Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve?
Take action now towards POSITIVE significant impacts before Redwood City determines Redwood Shores’s fate since presenting several woefully inadequate studies echoing claims of Redwood LIFE’s “less than significant” environmental impacts.
Discover opportunities for you to engage in February and March and protect Redwood Shores’s shrinking bayfront ecosystems before the City fastracks this massive, multi-hazardous, permanently detrimental Redwood LIFE plan.
Join the changing tide needed to sway the City’s current course!
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.
Help Protect the Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes designating 760,071 acres in California as critical habitat for four distinct population segments of the foothill yellow-legged frog. The species is threatened by habitat degradation, climate change, and invasive species. Critical habitat includes streams and upland areas essential for survival and recovery, with half on federally managed lands. Efforts to balance conservation with wildfire risk reduction and water infrastructure operations are ongoing. Please comment by March 17, 2025.
We have been following the evolution of the 80 Willow Road proposal and wish to reinforce and support the comments sent to you earlier by Naomi Goodman, resident of Menlo Park, on the Scope of Work for the EIR consultant. We will be submitting scoping comments when the NOP for the EIR is issued. However, we are now requesting that you include the following items into the “Scope of Work” in the RFP for the EIR consultant (or in an addendum to the RFP) for the upcoming environmental impact report for the project: 1. a geotechnical study with soil borings; 2. A biological resource assessment of the creek; 3. A traffic study; 4. Public safety.
We’re happy to share that Aiden was given early acceptance to Cornell, his first choice college. In his college application, Aiden included his more than three years of volunteer activities with us and submitted a letter of recommendation written by his Loma Prieta Chapter mentor, Mary Buxton.
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.
BioBlitz (February 9th), Planting (February 16th), and Cleanups (February 22nd and March 1st) 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.
Assembly Bill 2097, which eliminates city parking mandates within a half-mile of transit has elicited fear in the minds of some decision makers and residents in Palo Alto.
Your connection: The Sustainable Land Use committee has been advocating for reduced "right size" parking in areas close to transit to accommodate more housing. This is because each parking space not only takes valuable space but adds $50- $70,000 to the cost of the housing. Learn more about and how to join our Sustainable Land Use Committee.
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.
Feb 14, 1817, approximate birth of Frederick (Bailey) Douglass
Feb 18, 1909, birth of Wallace Stegner
Feb. 20th, 1902, birth of Ansel Adams _________________________________________________________________________________
"We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope."
The last line in Wilderness Letter by Wallace Stegner
2025.02.02, Chapter Director's hike in Joseph P. Grant (aka Grant Ranch) County Park, view of Loma Prieta from Antler Point.
