November 11, 2025
To: Mountain View Parks & Recreation Commission & Urban Forestry Board
CC: Raymond Wong, Watershed Manager, Lisa Au, Assistant Public Works Director, Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director
Re: Item 5.1 - Sailing Lake Habitat Island Alternative Analysis, Project 23-44
Dear Chair Davis and commissioners,
The Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, Green Spaces Mountain View, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, and Green Foothills strongly support staff’s recommendation to approve Habitat Island Restoration Alternative 2 (Repair Eroded Slopes and Expand Island Size) and Barrier Improvement Alternative C (Drilled Wooden Piles) for the Sailing Lake Habitat Island project.
The island supports critical nesting and roosting habitat for sensitive and declining species, including Black Skimmers, Forster’s Terns, American Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts, making its protection a high priority for our members. We appreciate that Alternative 2 clearly advances ecological goals by restoring and expanding the island footprint, improving slopes to enhance fledgling survival, incorporating native and structurally diverse habitat features, and reducing ongoing erosion. These actions will strengthen shoreline biodiversity and long-term habitat resilience.
We also support Barrier Improvement Alternative C, which balances effective protection from recreational disturbance, aesthetic compatibility, and long-term durability as these are key factors for nesting success in this high-use urban shoreline environment.
This project advances goals of the Shoreline Wildlife Management Plan, supports Mountain View’s broader biodiversity priorities, strengthens regional bird conservation, and demonstrates Mountain View’s commitment to science-based habitat stewardship. We thank staff for advancing a solution that restores habitat while supporting coexistence with recreation.
We respectfully urge the commission to support staff’s recommendation.
Sincerely,
Silja Paymer
GreenSpacesMV
Shani Kleinhaus,
Environmental Advocate
Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance
Gita Dev
Conservation Chair
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Alice Kaufman
Policy and Advocacy Director
Green Foothills