1,831-acre parcel nearly 20 percent of remaining undeveloped grassland in Santa Clara County
Published in the Oct. 28 – Nov. 10, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo courtesy Open Space Authority
Marisa Mibach, Open Space Authority Technician ll, participates in a rare plants workshop at Coyote Ridge earlier in the year. Coyote Ridge contains some of the last remaining serpentine grasslands in the Bay Area which provide habitat for many rare plants and other wildlife.
Come this spring, South Valley residents will be able to take a stroll through the wild flowers and enjoy panoramic views of the region from the 1,831-acre Coyote Ridge property acquired last week by the Open Space Authority. The acquisition is the former United Technology Corporation land and is the OSA’s largest acquisition to date.
The OSA received a total of $8.6 million in funding for the acquisition from a broad public and private partnership. This included the Wildlife Conservation Board, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 land acquisition program to further Habitat Conservation Plans under the Endangered Species Act, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the State Coastal Conservancy, the Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Project, and the State Parks Recreational Trails Program. The Open Space Authority contributed $7,500 toward the purchase price.
The property’s fair market value is $15.6 million and UTC received a tax credit from its part in donating the land along the Diablo Range foothills a few miles north of Morgan Hill.
“There are so many important reasons to protect Coyote Ridge,” said the OSA’s Assistant General Manager Matt Freeman. “The land help to protect our critical water supplies and will provide incredible recreational opportunities to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.”
Photo courtesy Open Space Authority
The Coyote Ridge property is one of the most significant natural areas in the Bay Area because it encompasses nearly a fifth of the remaining undeveloped serpentine grassland habitat in Santa Clara County, he said.
“Its lasting protection is vital to the recovery of serpentine-dependent species including the federally threatened Bay checkerspot butterfly and federally endangered Metcalf Canyon jewelflower,” he said. “For this reason, it is one of the top priorities for protection necessary to implement the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan’s conservation strategy.”
Other wildlife species that can be found on the property include a large herd of Tule elk that can occasionally be seen roaming the hillsides, burrowing owls, and golden eagles and many other raptors. The OSA will manage the property in partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency to protect and restore habitat for these and other species.
Photo courtesy Open Space Authority
For more than 20 years, many organizations, including California Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and more recently the Valley Habitat Agency have eyed the Coyote Ridge property as prime conservation land, Freeman said. For 45 years, UTC built and tested engines that powered military and NASA equipment on a 3,282-acre parcel of land adjacent to Coyote Ridge. UTC designated this two-mile long section along Coyote Ridge as a buffer zone to separate the manufacturing and testing activity from the public.
The OSA is now beginning to plan and design a parking area and trails to allow public access to the future Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve.
“We are looking at the preserve opening tentatively in summer or fall of 2018,” Freeman said. “In the meantime, we will continue to offer amazing wildflower hikes on Coyote Ridge at the height of the season in spring. At the same time the wildflowers are blooming, the Bay checkerspot butterflies, another rare species, are hatching and fluttering around the ridge in great numbers. The beauty of Coyote Ridge in the spring is simply spectacular.”
Photo courtesy Open Space Authority
The newly acquired property is a vast expanse of rolling hills, rock outcroppings painted with bright orange lichen, majestic heritage oaks, abundant wildflowers and native grasses — all teeming with birds and other wildlife. Along the ridge where the Bay Area Ridge Trail will be routed, there are spectacular views to the west looking over the pastoral Coyote Valley to the dramatic peaks of the Santa Cruz Mountains. To the east the views include a sweeping expanse of the Diablo Range and rolling hills. The land will include 5.2 new miles of Bay Area Ridge Trail.
“The Bay Ridge Trail and some spur trails will be on the property so that people will be able to get access to the property,” said Edmund Sullivan, executive officer with the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency which helped acquire financing for the property. “It’s pretty breathtaking up there. In the springtime it’s beautiful with the butterflies and the flowers blooming. You get some amazing views of the Diablo Range to the east and Coyote Valley and Silicon Valley and beyond that the Coastal Range. When you’re there in the spring, it’s like a painted landscape with the colors and you’ve got these butterflies dancing on the flowers. It’s kind of a magical place and you don’t even think you’re in one of the economic engines of the world over to the east.”
Photo courtesy Open Space Authority
Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the State Coastal Conservancy said his organization strongly supports projects on the coast and in the Bay Area that provide multiple conservation benefits, such as the Coyote Ridge acquisition.
“Protection of this landscape will serve to preserve valuable water resources, provide public access, and close gaps in regional trails like the Bay Area Ridge Trail,” he said.
The land protection project is an example of the OSA’s approach to develop strong financial partnerships to permanently conserve the most critical landscapes in our jurisdiction, and it is very excited to focus on new areas that are priorities from the Valley Greenprint and Measure Q, Freeman said.
“Our open space preserves are open every day of the year and offer many opportunities to enjoy nature through hiking, biking or horseback riding,” he said. “If you haven’t been to one of our preserves before, visit www.openspaceauthority.org and check out the programs and activities we offer. We have a ‘Hike Your Pie Off’ hike coming up at the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
