Open Space Council: Blog

Our Home Base Has Gone Platinum

Click image to see the slideshow of our November 2010 Staff Meeting.

 

The Open Space Council's office is on the 3rd floor of the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley.  This great building has been awarded LEED Platinum status and highlighted on *the* blog of this town, Berkeleyside.  Click here to read the article.  

Learn more about the building's environmental greatness here.  And come by to say hi!

Behind the Scenes: GreenInfo Network

When you look at this map you see the Bay, where you live, and perhaps open spaces you love.

When the team at GreenInfo Network looks at this map, they see the carefully chosen CMYK value for the blue hexagons, the transperancy levels of the ocean fade, the line widths, the font in the legend, and importance of the layering of information. 

 

When you click on the Explorer tool, you see an interactive map, you download reports full of useful and interesting information, and you send links to your colleagues.

When the team at GreenInfo Network looks at Explorer, they think about how people are going to use the information, where drop-down menus should be located, and how to make everything available in a click or two.

The team of Rhonda Friberg, Maegan Leslie Torres, Jennifer Strahan, Louis Jaffe, John Kelly, and Larry Orman has been a central part of the Conservation Lands Network.  Their vision, creativity and sincere desire to make useful information easily available have pushed the project farther forward than originally imagined.  And for that we are very grateful.

 

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We recently launched the Conservation Lands Network, a bold plan to protect the Bay Area's last wild places and working lands.  There are many people who contributed to the project over the years and we are grateful for all of their time, dedication and expertise.  Over the next few weeks we will profile some of these incredible people and organizations. 

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project - the project that created the Conservation Lands Network - and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

 

Conference: Northgate has joined as a sponsor!

We are thrilled to announce that Northgate Environmental Management has joined us as a sponsor of the Open Space Conference!

 

Click here to see all of our sponsors, the conference agenda, and the way to register.  We are going to the printers today with the printed program but sponsorships are still available.  Call Annie at 510 809 8009 ext 252 to sign up and get more information.

Event: One Bay Area Workshops

One Bay Area is a new initiative meant to coordinate efforts among the region’s nine counties and 101 towns and cities to create a more sustainable future.  And they're holding workshops to plan together for future growth that enhances our region’s economy, environment and social equity by building compact communities with easy access to transit, jobs, schools, shopping, parks and services. Using the Initial Vision Scenario as a conversation starter, they will use computer modeling and other tools to help participants envision what various land-use/transportation scenarios may look like.

We need your help. Find a workshop and join us and your fellow community members for a dynamic discussion about your county’s future growth.

Click here for the schedule of workshops and to sign up.

 

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MTC, one of the partner organizations of One Bay Area, is one of the sponsors of the Open Space Conference on May 12.  And Amy Worth and Randy Iwasaki, both MTC Board members, will be speaking at the conference about the work of One Bay Area to build a healthy community.  To learn more about the conference, click here.

Transit and Trails Triple Threat: What does it really mean?

We announced the Triple Threat here earlier this month and have received many emails and questions about it.  The most popular question is "can it be done?" and the most definitive answer is "yes."  We can say this because it has been done.  Last year all three peaks were bagged by a dedicated and very athletic group of people (see more about last year's ride on the blog and on Facebook).

 

We also get asked what is actually involved in the Triple Threat - how does one ride between these three peaks?  Here is the plan.

Friday, June 17: Take Caltrain to San Jose.  Ride to Joseph D Grant County Park campground.  Sleep.

Saturday, June 18: Depart campground and ride to summit of Mount Hamilton.  Take in views, marvel at the huge amounts of open space, take pictures.

Descend Mount Hamilton.  Pick up camping gear and ride to San Jose Caltrain station.

Take Caltrain to San Francisco.  Ride from train station to Ferry Building.  Drop off camping gear.

Take ferry to Sausalito.  

Ride to summit of Mount Tamalpais.  Eat lunch, give high-fives, post pictures to Facebook.

Descend Mount Tamalpais.  Board ferry in Sausalito headed for San Francisco (or bike back to SF over Golden Gate bridge).  Get off ferry and ride to Embarcadero BART station.  

Take BART to Pleasant Hill, ride the Iron Horse Regional Trail and the Contra Costa Canal Trail.

Ride up Mount Diablo.  Eat dinner, admire the miles and miles of rolling hills, hugs all around, find 140 characters to tweet on Twitter. 

Exhale and descend Mount Diablo for the BART station. 

Go home.  Collapse.  

 

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Sponsors of the ride are REI, Transit & Trails, and Bay Area Open Space Council.  Partners include California State Parks, Santa Clara Parks and Recreation, Save Mount Diablo, Rails to Trails, and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.  Thanks to all who are involved!

Learn more here.  Sign up to ride.

For those arm-chair-bicyclists out there, follow the ride on Twitter and Facebook.  And join the Cause to support the riders and Transit & Trails.

 

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!  And happy birthday to our Earth Day Birthday Boy.  It's a perfect day to spend some time outside, show our gratitude for those that worked to protect the parks, open spaces, and working lands of the Bay Area, and look forward to what opportunities lie ahead.  We at the Open Space Council wish you all some time outside today and this weekend.

Bay Area Open Space Legacy from OpenRoad on Vimeo.

The 300+ in attendance at last year's conference watched this video courtesy of Bay Area legend Doug McConnell.  Today is not just Earth Day, it's the last day of early-bird pricing for this year's conference on May 12.  The price for individual registrations goes up to $100 on Monday, April 25.   

Register today!

All things conference can be found here including the agenda, speakers, exhibitor information, and registration.  

 

We would like to thank the sponsors of this year's conference:

  


            

 

Thanks for their support of our work and the conference:

      

 

 

 

Behind the Scenes: Miguel Vieira

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

You might recognize that first photograph in the slideshow as the one we're using for the Conservation Lands Network.  It was taken by Miguel Vieria on the Diablo Trail.  Check out his blog, Remembered Earth, where he writes about hiking and natural history with a focus on California.  We are grateful to him for sharing that image of the rolling hills with us so that we can share it with you.

 

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We recently launched the Conservation Lands Network, a bold plan to protect the Bay Area's last wild places and working lands.  There are many people who contributed to the project over the years and we are grateful for all of their time, dedication and expertise.  Over the next few weeks we will profile some of these incredible people. 

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project - the project that created the Conservation Lands Network - and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

Were you there last year?

Photos from the 2010 Conference by Rob Brodman.

 

Join us at the 2011 Conference on May 12.  Register today before the early-bird pricing expires.  

 

Data and Maps, Maps and Data

Rare vegetation types, conservation suitability, sensitive species, priority streams….

These are just a few of the myriad of biodiversity related spatial datasets compiled, created and analyzed as a part of this regional conservation plan. And all of it is being made available, an incredible resource for non-profit land conservation organizations, public agencies, county planners, and anyone trying to looking to assess biodiversity values in the Bay Area.

The latest and greatest version of this comprehensive database is now available at BayAreaLands.org.  

Hop on over and get lost in the data.

 

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The Conservation Lands Network has launched and will change how conservation in the Bay Area is done.  In concert with Bay Nature’s article Big Plans, Wild Lands, we are profiling the project and all of its tools, results, and people behind the scenes.  Learn more at BayAreaLands.org and tell your friends.

We thank the funders of the Upland Habitat Goals Project and invite you to join them in supporting regional, science-based conservation planning.  Click here to contribute.

 

In one week from today...

... the conference registration will go up, the world will celebrate Earth Day, and one Open Space Council team member will be one year older.

We hope that you'll join us in wishing that Earth Day Birthday Boy a very happy trip around the sun.

All things conference can be found here including the sponsors (The Sponsors! Thank you, Sponsors!), agenda, speakers, and registration.