Open Space Council's Blog

Open Space Happenings: 05.30.12

In less than 3 weeks we'll get as many people as we can to get outside, get moving and get involved. Are you one? Hop over to altride.org and sign up.

Click here to watch a video about zoos and their role in conservation. 

 

• The Best Bay Area Mountains for Biking. The Bay Area is home to many peaks, including three which make up one crazy event on June 16, 2012. (offMetro SF and guest posted by yours truly)
• Chipotle Loves State Parks. Chipotle will donate $100,000 to support CSPF’sAnswer the Call fundraising campaign to combat park closures. (State Parks Foundation)
• 4 more state parks due to close will stay open. Four state parks slated for a July 1 closure will remain open after local governments and private groups stepped forward and agreed to operate them. (SF Chronicle)
• Now Coveted: A Walkable, Convenient Place. Walking isn’t just good for you. It has become an indicator of your socioeconomic status.  (New York Times)
• San Francisco parks ranked No. 1. San Francisco’s public parks were rated the best among the nation’s largest cities by Trust for Public Land. (SF Gate)
• Golden Gate Bridge 75th: fireworks and fog. There was quite a party on May 27 for the 75th anniversary. (SF Chronicle)
• Port Costa brick works to become park land. An old brick plant that churned out the building blocks of California growth for nearly a century is being sold to expand a park and increase access to the Carquinez Strait shoreline. The East Bay Regional Park District has struck a deal to buy 149 acres of the former Port Costa Brick Company between and Crockett and Martinez. (Contra Costa Times)
• North Coast Forest Conservation Conference on June 6-8, 2012 in (naturally) Forestville, CA.

 

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This is your weekly helping of land conservation news for the Bay Area. We do this every Wednesday unless something more fun comes up.

Get out, get moving, get involved

Alt. is more than a really hard core bike challenge.

What makes it special are the parks it goes through and the transit that brings it all together. And those parks, trains, ferries, and buses are for all of us to use. Alt. is an opportunity for everyone to get out, get moving, and get involved. Over the next 3 weeks we'll share ideas about how you - yes YOU! - can celebrate alternative modes of transportation and the awe-inspiring landscape of the Bay Area.

Not up to riding 3 peaks, but 1 sounds doable? Join us for a Training Ride on June 2 up Mt Hamilton. We'll start at 9am at the San Jose Caltrain Station. Here is the route we'll take. Register here so we know you're coming.

What will you do on June 16? Here are some ideas:

• Take BART or MUNI to the Farmers' Market at the San Francisco Ferry Building. Look for Alt. along the Embarcadero and watch the riders go by at about 10:45am.
• Do a low-elevation version of the Alt. ride: San Francisco Ferry Building to the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and ferry back to San Francisco. Yes, there's a little climb to get to the Bridge but you can do it.
• Jump on a bus to a park near you and use Transit & Trails to plan your trip.

Sign up here if you plan to get out, get moving or get involved on June 16 and join the movement. Thanks to all of our sponsors and partners:

 

From the Rooftop: Canogle

Join us on a tour of Franklin Canyon with Muir Heritage Land Trust and Canogle. This video gives a sense for what Canogle is. More information about this start-up company can be found on their website.

 

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Three outstanding organizations stepped up as generous sponsors of the 2012 Open Space Conference: Canogle, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Sempervirens Fund. We are grateful for their support. And we want to shout from the rooftops about our appreciation. Pretend with us that this blog is a rooftop. Our thanks to the other two Ecosystem level sponsors is coming soon.

What the Open Space Conference looked like on Twitter

You've seen the pictures. And maybe you were there. But this is what the Open Space Conference looked like on Twitter which is kind of like what your brain looks like on 140 characters. Scroll down to the bottom and start from there. 

 

More characters about - and pictures of! - the Open Space Conference on May 10, 2012 can be found here. 

Open Space Happenings: 05.23.12

Bievenidos a Miercoles!  Quieres aprender que esta pasando en la conservacion de la tierra?

Someone recently seen at Sunol Regional Wilderness.

• Insurance Firm Is Set Up for Land Trusts, Which See Legal Costs Soaring. When landowners defy established conservation restrictions — and informal resolution efforts fail — the country’s 1,700 or so land trusts find that they have little option but to take them to court. (New York Times)
• Americans still support environmental protection, thank you. The bad economy has not turned the public off to environmental protection. Conservatives, if they are wise, will factor that into their political calculations. (Grist)
• Report: Marin's greenbelts well protected. Marin has the highest percentage of land protected from development in the Bay Area, and should focus future development near Highway 101 and transportation centers (Marin IJ)
• Land-use plan calls for new growth near transit. The Plan Bay Area strategy linking land-use and transportation investment was approved by the governing boards of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments. (SF Chronicle)
• Bay Area regional growth plan advances. Another article about the Plan Bay Area. (Contra Costa Times)
• Golden Gate Bridge anniversary: After 75 years, it remains California's icon. In case you haven't heard, the Bridge has one big party in store this weekend. (Mercury News)
• Lawmakers push new plan to rescue California parks. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers gathered on Monday to push a new plan to save dozens of California parks slated for closure this year. (LA Times)
• Bay Area open space: 75 percent is being protected, but 300,000 acres are still at risk. Roughly 75 percent of all the land in the Bay Area is either permanently protected in parks or open space, or at low risk of development because it is zoned for farming or other rural uses. (Mercury News)
• Capturing the Wisdom of Environmental Elders: A Screening & Party! on June 7 (Huey Johnson and Resource Renewal Institute)

 

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This is your weekly helping of land conservation news for the Bay Area. We do this every Wednesday unless something more fun comes up.

Wrapping it all up

YES!

On May 10 over 300 people gathered at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio of San Francisco. They shared ideas, they talked about current and potential projects, they asked questions and made connections. Everyone in the room that day cares about parks, trails, open spaces, farms, ranches, wildlife and how people relate to all of it. It was the 13th Annual Open Space Conference and it was a special day. 

We would love to know what you thought of the conference if you were there. What did you like? What could change? Please take a our quick online survey and tell us. We're listening. 

Click here to tell us what you think

Thank you to our speakers! They all brought with them experience and expertise, tools and tips. They made us laugh and cry. And they inspired us to think big.

• Remi Abbas
• Gray Brechin
• Jon Christensen
• Ari Derfel
• Steve Dunsky
• Anthea Hartig
• Assemblymember Jared Huffman
• Amy Hutzel
• Jen Isacoff
• Jered Lawson
• Johnathan Logan
• Andrea Mackenzie
• Mark Nechodom
• Aileen Suzara
• Ben Tulchin
• Richard Walker

Thank you to our sponsors! These organizations and companies demonstrated their support of the Open Space Council and its efforts to coordinate a regional approach to land conservation.  And this year we were able to offer student scholarships for the first time because of generous sponsorship from Canogle, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Sempervirens Fund. 

• Canogle
• Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
• Sempervirens Fund
• CA State Parks Foundation
• East Bay Regional Park District
• Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
• Marin County Parks and Open Space District
• Save the Redwoods League
• Greenbelt Alliance
• Metropolitan Transportation Commission
• Peninsula Open Space Trust
• Restoration Design Group
• Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
• Sonoma County Parks
• Sonoma Land Trust
• The Nature Conservancy

A special thanks to The Presidio Trust for their light-filled space in one of the most beautiful places in the world. And to the Coastal Conservancy for all of their amazing work and support of the Open Space Council.

Thank you to all of our exhibitors! There were new and familiar faces in the Exhibitor Halls which made it fun to walk around and learn about what tools, resources, services and more are out there.

• Bay Nature
• Calflora
• Canessa
• Coastal Conservancy
• Felidae Conservation Fund
• GreenInfo Network
• Green Barrel Wine
• Green Fire Documentary 
• Heifer International
• Institute for the Golden Gate
• Pacific Coast Seed
• Paula Lane Action Network
• Pease Press
• Questa
• San Francisco Bay Joint Venture
• San Francisco Bay Trail
• Santa Clara Open Space Authority
• The First 70
• Traipse Media

 

Thanks to our volunteers: Raj Hajela, Francisco Mariscal, Annie Fryman, and Robert Johnson.Thanks to Ellen Toomey and Jen Hale for their creativity. Big loud, but melodic, thanks to Craig Anderson for bringing the music. And thanks to Back to Earth catering for delicious food. 

Want to see more pictures?

Click here for a slideshow. All photos are by the talented Jen Hale.

Sometime in May 2013 we'll do this all again. Will you be a part of it?

 

Open Space Happenings: 05.16.12

It's Wednesday and here are some articles and events that have something to do with land, parks, trails, farms, ranches, animals, people and how all of those things are related in the Bay Area.

An HBO Documentary called The Weight of the Nation is just out. The whole thing is worth watching, but Part 4 is perhaps the most relevant to the work we do in land conservation. Click here to see the video above.

 

• Reed Holderman: Saving California parks shouldn't be this hard. Seventy California state parks are set to close July 1 in an effort to reduce the state's nearly $10 billion deficit, unless somebody -- anybody -- steps up to save them.  (Mercury News)
• Shelling out to use Sonoma Coast beaches. California State Parks is planning to charge for day use at 14 popular beaches on the Sonoma Coast. (Press Democrat)
• In City Where Dogs Outnumber Children, Finding a Way for Coyotes to Coexist. The emergence in recent years of coyotes in San Francisco's parks has raised doubts about whether the two animal worlds — the domesticated and the wild — be able to coexist. (New York Times)
• Bike to work? Me? A personal testimonial to the wonders of biking to work. (Mercury News)
• Sustainable ranching renaissance takes hold in Northern California. What began as a locavore movement that emphasized local, organic produce has grown to include the proteins on the dinner plate as well. (Marin IJ)
• New Marin Headlands bridges provide safer access to bikers, hikers and equestrians. A new 180-foot bridge open to hikers, bikers and equestrians that better serves to protect those groups from vehicle traffic is now open in the Rodeo Valley just west of Sausalito. (Marin IJ)
• Local lawmakers introduce conservation area bill. Designating more than 100 miles of wilderness between Lake Berryessa and Snow Mountain as a national conservation area took a major step forward Tuesday when three local members of Congress introduced a bill to create it. (Napa Valley Register)
• Obesity linked to location. Kids living near parks or markets less likely to be extremely overweight. (Science News for Kids)
• A Hiker’s Guide to Healing. A story of pain and love and walking 2,650 miles. (New York Times)
• Bernie Krause and 'The Great Animal Orchestra'. Local musician and naturalist Bernie Krause has made a career of recording and arranging the sounds of nature. In his new book, "The Great Animal Orchestra," Krause explores how animals use sound to survive in their habitats, and examines the contributions of natural rhythms to human musical expression. (KQED Forum)
• Be the Golden Gate Bridge on May 19 at Crissy Field (Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy)
• The Land Ethic Leaders Program in Truckee on June 1-2, 2012. (The Aldo Leopold Foundation)

 

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This is your weekly helping of land conservation news for the Bay Area. 

Did you go to last week's Open Space conference? We'd love to know what you thought. Take our survey and tell us what you liked, what you loved, and what could change. We're listening.

Click here to take the survey.

 

 

15 Years, 425 projects, 85,772 acres and over 200 miles

Last Thursday over 300 people attended the Open Space Conference. What a great day full of ideas, surprises and smiles! Thanks to all who sponsored, attended, exhibited, volunteered, and supported the conference. Pictures of the day are coming soon here and on Flickr.

At the conference we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program and the beautiful and inspiring report that describes what's happened over those 15 years. If you'd like to see what progress has been made, check out this report. If you want to feel good about land conservation, this is worth reading. If you care about land, this is the report for you.

Download the report.

As outlined in the report, the Coastal Conservancy’s work in the nine-county Bay Area is focused on: 

• Protecting the greenbelt
• Restoring wetlands, creeks and rivers
• Supporting local farms and ranches
• Completing the Bay Trail, Ridge Trail, Coastal Trail, and Water Trail
• Enhancing urban waterfronts
• Building education centers
• Providing people, particularly children, with hands-on educational opportunities

You - as our members, partners and friends - have been essential to accomplishing the many achievements highlighted in the report. For hard copies of the report and questions about the Coastal Conservancy's work, please contact Amy Hutzel at ahutzel at scc.ca dot gov and 510 286 4130.

Stay tuned for more about the Coastal Conservancy's work on here on our blog this summer. There's a lot to celebrate.

 

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Did you go to last week's Open Space conference? We'd love to know what you thought. Take our survey and tell us what you liked, what you loved, and what could change. We're listening.

Click here to take the survey.

 

Until next time

The conference is over and a chapter in the Open Space Council's story is ending, another one soon to begin. There are bridges for all of us to cross, and the possibilities are endless.

We will miss you, Bettina. Until next time...

 

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Did you go to yesterday's Open Space conference? We'd love to know what you thought. Because believe it or not, plans for next year's conference start on Monday. Take our survey and tell us what you liked, what you loved, and what could change. 

Click here to take the survey.

 

Tomorrow!

It's almost here. The Open Space Conference is tomorrow at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio. The house will be packed, the Exhibitor Halls will be full, and there will be plenty of ideas and inspiration to go 'round.

Photo by Lech Naumovich

For you 300 people planning to come, here are some tips:

Planning your trip? Click here to find out how to get there by foot, bike, public transit or a car. The schedule for the PresidiGo, a shuttle from downtown SF to the Presidio, can be found here.

Parking. Parking is available up the small hill from the Golden Gate Club. It costs $6 for the day.

Bright and early!  Registration opens at 8:00am.  The program starts at 8:30am. 

Tickets! You do not need to print out tickets. If you’ve registered your name is on our list and you’re all set. 

Bikes!  Thank you to the 40 people that have signed up to ride to the conference.  There will be secure bike parking on the south-western side of the Golden Gate Club.  Be sure to tell the folks at the Registration table that you biked to get a little something for your pedaling.

Carpooling! Please consider carpooling with colleagues to save some money on gas, reduce our carbon tire-print, and have someone to debrief with on the way home. Do you know about Zimride?

BYO(W)B!  Please bring your water bottle and/or coffee mug so we can reduce our waste. 

Possibilities!  What possibilities do you want to create? What do you dream of? Bring your big ideas for our photo booth.

More information about the conference can be found here. Including an amazing list of sponsors... thank you sponsors!

 

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Every Wednesday we post news and other musings related to land conservation. Today's different. And Happenings will resume next Wednesday.