collaboration. We work together to preserve land, parks, trails, farms, ranches, forests, watersheds, and other open spaces. We have been around since 1990. This is our blog.
We are excited to announce the 2012 Bay Area Protected Lands map and database! For 14 years we have partnered with GreenInfo Network to count the number of acres in the Bay Area that are protected from development and concrete. With the 2012 map there are some great numbers to share:
There are 1.3 million acres of protected land in the Bay Area. This is the most of any major metropolitan area in the world!
What is protected here is 1.7 times the size of Yosemite. All right in our backyard!
And the icing on the cake is that we have nearly 1 million acres of publicly accessible parks, trails and open spaces! That's almost 1 million acres for all of us.
“We have over 7 million people in the Bay Area and all of us here have something very special: easy access to an incredible amount of publicly owned land,” said Jenn Fox, Executive Director of the Bay Area Open Space Council. “The Protected Areas Map shows us that throughout the Bay Area individuals and organizations are working to create parks, build trails, and work the land for food. This ongoing effort gives all Bay Area families a chance to enjoy nature and stay healthy.”
Dozens of agencies and nonprofits are working tirelessly to conserve land - most of them are members of the Open Space Council. The Bay Area Protected Lands Map clearly illustrates the hard work of these organizations and agencies and what a special region it is.
The California Coastal Conservancy’s Bay Area Program financially supports the development of Bay Area Protected Areas Database (BPAD). GreenInfo Network is a key partner in the creation and maintenance of the GIS data and map. Due to the success and learning in developing BPAD, GreenInfo Network expanded the database to include protected lands for all of California, the California Protected Areas Database (CPAD).
Today, the shortest day of the year, we invite you to join us on a tour. A tour, you say? But how? This is a virtual tour of the Open Space Council in 2011. The past year has been full of big visions, announcements, partnerships, and cool stuff like iPhone apps. Will you and your mouse join us as we click through 2011? Come along...
First stop on the tour is January. We started 2011 with over 100 people to talk about climate change. Our Rainy Season Gathering was held at the Brower Center and featured speakers from Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Save the Redwoods and others. We didn't debate the science of climate change but rather talked about what is actually being done to adapt to it. Read about it here and here.
Also in January we launched the Explorer tool for the Conservation Lands Network. Are you using Explorer? We held a workshop on Explorer in January which you can read about here.
February was full of love. The mobile app kind of love. In February we launched the iPhone app for Transit and Trails. Imagine you're going for a hike. Is there a change of plans? Did the weather shift from clouds to rain on your hike? Now you can view your route and how to get home in a flash on your iPhone.
Isn't that cool?
Are you ready for this stop on the tour?! It's a big one. It's March!
Our most popular Gathering yet was held at the Log Cabin in San Francisco's Presidio in March. The topic was Grazing & Conservation : Ranchers & Environmentalists and maybe you can guess why so many people attended. It sold out 2 weeks beforehand. Did you know that there are over 30 land-managing agencies in the Bay Area who have grazing on their lands? Click here and here to learn more about this complex subject.
Also in March we launched the Conservation Lands Network! Over 5 years, dozens of organizations, scientists of all kinds, and a healthy serving of creativity led to the map, Explorer, GIS datasets, brochure and full report. There's a great article about it in Bay Nature magazine which sums the whole thing up much better than we can in this blog post.
Not to jump head too much, but the Conservation Lands Network was all over the Bay Area this year. City and County planning departments, transportation agencies, Boards of Directors, nonprofit land trusts, and more heard a presentation about the Conservation Lands Network. It showed up in press releases and was included in funding requests. Here are some of the highlights.
March also brought the launch of the Living Landscape Initiative. Five members of the Open Space Council are working closely together to have significant impact on the counties of San Mateo-Santa Clara-Santa Cruz. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves but this group had a very big and very exciting announcement in December.
It's April! Spring was in the air! Even if it was a rainy spring it still felt like spring. We partnered with the Bay Area Ridge Trail for a hike from Richmond to Orinda on April 2. Did you know that you can actually hike from Richmond to Orinda? And use BART and AC Transit to get there and home? You can. We did. Click here to read all about it.
Spring goes by fast and here we are at May. The 12th annual Open Space Conference was held at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio. The theme was 'health' and we talked about all kinds of health: healthy people, healthy parks, and healthy communities. The room was packed with more than 300 people and some fun was had in our photo booth.
Also in May and the first part of June we held two workshops in Marin County called Community Bridges. With support from the Marin Community Foundation, we brought together park agencies, outdoor education providers and others who are interested in partnerships, funding collaborations and how we can better connect young people to the outdoors. Here's a quick synopsis.
We're half way done with this tour. How's everyone doing?
Welcome to June. On the longest Saturday of the year a group of people rode their bikes to the tops of Mount Hamilton, Mount Tamalpais and Mount Diablo in one day using public transit to get between the three mountains. It's the Triple Threat! And it's a demonstration of how incredible the Bay Area is with our parks, trails, and open spaces and the buses, ferries, and trains that connect them all. Read the play-by-play of the ride here.
In the words of one of the riders: ""The Triple Threat was an awesome experience: one that should be on the 'bucket list' of any cycling enthusiast and that I will be promoting amongst friends and at other cycling events!"
July is that beautiful time of year when energy is high and the Bay Area's microclimates are at their extremes. We held our Fog Gathering - respectfully named after the weather pattern many Bay Area residents associate with July - at the Brower Center and discussed transportation and sustainable communities. All of our work on parks, trails, farms, forests, and other open spaces fit into this very metropolitan region. Sometimes the fit is comfortable, and sometimes it's hard to see how these two worlds can coexist. The panel talked about what partnerships are happening, what's happening on a policy level, and how we all can get involved. Read more about it here.
Ah, August. Let's all take a deep breath right about now. That's what the Open Space Council did in August. Ommm....
Now that you're all relaxed, let's go to September! What does $263,000,000 have to do with land conservation in the Bay Area? A lot! It's the amount of bond funding that the Coastal Conservancy has brought to the region through the Bay Program. Our September Gathering at the Log Cabin in San Francisco featured Sam Schuchat and Amy Hutzel to talk about the many accomplishments of the Bay Program and the future of the Restoration Authority. Read all about it, including the presentations, here.
Here we are in October. Can you feel it? The light is changing and pumpkins are showing up on front porches. There was good news from Sacramento, a series on our blog about climate change (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four), and the full report of the Conservation Lands Network was available for download. The Open Space Council went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend the Land Trust Alliance's Rally and present to full rooms about the Conservation Lands Network and Transit and Trails. We know you and your mouse love pictures so here are some from Milwaukee.
Next up is November of course. First, we launched the 2011 version of the Bay Area Protected Areas Database. We've been doing this with GreenInfo Network for years and it tell us where the protected lands are in the Bay Area (bet you could have figured that one out). You can download the database here.
Next, we collaborated with Bay Nature magazine and SAGE on an event entitled Urban Gardens to Open Range: The Present and Future of Bay Area Food Landscapes. A great panel discussed the hard work involved in producing local, organic and sustainable food. Pictures can be seen here and an article about the event can be read here.
Finally in November, over 100 people filled the room at the Brower Center for a conversation about the State Parks closures (some call them 'abandonments'). It was our 5th Gathering of the year and yet another example of the power of partnership. The panel talked about ways in which they're working together with new and long-time partners to deal with something we've never faced before. Read all about it here and click on the picture below for a slideshow.
At the Gathering we watched this short film. Have you seen it?
Whew, the first 11 months of 2011 were full. We have just one more month to go. Ready?
In December there was this big announcement from the Living Landscape Initiative. Our members - our amazing members! - started renewing their memberships and we're thanking them online with pictures.
Also this month the Open Space Council has been looking forward to 2012. We'll host another 5 Gatherings, starting on January 19 on cultural relevancy. Our Open Space Conference will be on May 10. The Triple Threat will be bigger and viral on June 16. We will launch an Adroid app for Transit and Trails. And more that we can't reveal yet. We have lots of ideas and even more passion. 2012 is going to be fun.
We are very grateful to all of who have contributed financially to the Open Space Council in the past year. You can see who these amazing individuals, member organizations, foundations, companies, and agencies are here. Would you like to join them? We'd love to have you. Click here to be a part of it all.
Finally, from the Open Space Council to you... we wish you a very Happy Winter Solstice and a winter filled with light.
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This is our last blog post of 2011. All this talk about parks and trails, local food and open space, makes us feel a little restless. We need to go outside. Have happy holidays and we'll see you again in January.
It is the Conservation Lands Network, about 2 million acres of existing and potential protected parks, trails, working lands, and open spaces. It's available online in various useful forms including maps, GIS data, Explorer and brochures.
Have you wanted to dig deeper into this map? Wonder how this map came to be?
Now, available from the comfort of your home or office, is the Conservation Lands Network full report. In your comfortable chair or on the couch you can explore ponds, vegetation types and enjoy stunning photography of the region's flora and fauna. With a few clicks you can download the whole report or individual chapters, including:
Summary, conclusions, how to use the Conservation Lands Network and more in Chapters 10, 11 and 12
But wait! There's more. Do you know what a Boundary Length Modifier is? What about the difference between a Focal Species and a Target Species? The Glossary can help. It's available for download, too.
Have you used the Conservation Lands Network already? We'd love to hear what you think. Take a quick and painless survey and tell us your experiences, what you like, and what could be improved. Click here.
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We launched the Conservation Lands Network earlier this year, a bold plan to protect the Bay Area's last wild places and working lands. 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.
Read more about the Conservation Lands Network on our blog over the past year.
We have a vision. A vision for our whole foggy-at-the-coast and hot-inland region. We want to work with our members and the community-at-large to realize this vision of bringing nature within reach of all Bay Area residents. Our work towards this vision has a few different components, one of which being the Park Connections project (and this being another).
On May 18th and June 2nd we held workshops in Marin County to convene educators, outdoor programs, youth programs, and park agencies/organizations in order to build partnerships, catalyze ideas, and find ways of getting more young people outside. This follows on the heels of Phase One of the Park Connections project which resulted in this report.
(If you're reading this by email, click here for a slideshow)
Representatives from organizations like Huckleberry Youth Programs, Slide Ranch, Marin Organic, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy attended the workshops held at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center on May 18. And the Canal Alliance hosted the second workshop on June 2 with participations from organizations like WildCare, Point Reyes National Seashore Association, Audubon Canyon Ranch, PRBO Conservation Science, and California State Parks. Thanks to both of our hosts for sharing their spaces.
Many resources were shared including the Outdoor Youth Providers database created by the Stewardship Council. And many stories were told of the transformational effects of time spent outdoors, including:
There are students who have never slept away from home, and don't apply to colleges far away because leaving home is intimidating; outdoor programs could help provide the experience of being away from home.
The conversations are continuing offline and the partnerships are continuing to build. Contact Wendy Dalia at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center if you're interested in joining them. Her number is (415) 388-2524 x111. For questions about the workshops, contact our Executive Director Bettina Ring at 510 809 8009 ext 254.
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These workshops were made possible by the support of the Marin Community Foundation. If you're interested in working with the Open Space Council to bring nature within reach of more Bay Area residents, contact Bettina Ring at 510 809 8009 ext 254.
On Friday, June 10 we partnered with the Canal Alliance in San Rafael to lead a hike for the young people in their ESL program. It was the first day of their summer program and this is some of what they saw:
The Conservation Lands Network made local news because of a deal in the works in Solano County. The Solano Land Trust received a significant donation from the State Coastal Conservancy towards the purchase of Rockville Trails Estates property, which sits right next to the 800,000-acre Blue Ridge-Berryessa Natural Area. The Conservation Lands Network was used to identifiy the property's biodiversity values.
The Open Space Council wants to bring nature within reach of all Bay Area residents. Last year we conducted research and wrote a report about connecting a particular population of Bay Area residents - young people from underserved communities - to the outdoors. The Park Connections project identified 5 key barriers between young people and the parks, trails, and open spaces we have in the region.
The work continues with a workshop series in Marin County, thanks to support from the Marin Community Foundation. The Community Bridges Workshops will bring together practioners and funders to improve access to parks and open spaces for underserved youth in Marin County. Join us for one or both workshops to build partnerships, learn about best practices and identify ways to make it happen (i.e., funding!).
Interested in partnering with Transit and Trails to lead a hike on your trails and through your parks? Contact Ryan at ryan [at] openspacecouncil [dot] org and let's see what we can do together.
Realizing the Conservation Lands Network vision is not the job for one person. It takes all of us, close partnerships, sustainable funding, and heaps of creativity. We invite you to join us with whatever assets you have – coalition-building skills, talents for forward-thinking plans, financial resources, or policy-making capabilities – to keep the Bay Area as one of the most special places on Earth.
1. Include everyone. The Conservation Lands Network can be used by anyone with a computer who wants to help protect open space, wildlife, and ways of life. Incorporate Explorer into your planning efforts or funding proposals. Use the GIS data in your plans. And connect with the Bay Area Open Space Council to stay in the loop.
2. Create incentives. In these cash-strapped budgetary times, create incentives for ranchers, farmers, and forestland owners that will stabilize land tenure and improve the habitat and the economic viability of working lands.
4. Encourage an era of New Neighboring. Use the Conservation Lands Network to help neighbors partner with neighbors by linking management actions across property lines. Help connections grow informally and formally in ways that promote community-based conservation.
5. Integrate into public plans. Concentrate development in places that keep essential habitat out of harm’s way by including the Conservation Lands Network in General Plans, the Sustainable Community Strategy and Habitat Conservation Plans, as well as other land use, watershed and transportation planning efforts.
6. Freshwater first! Protect every drop by preserving and restoring sensitive watershed lands and streams. Promote active, ongoing stewardship and protection. These areas will provide both movement corridors and refuge for plants and animals confronting a changing climate.
7. Adapt and evolve. Help public and private landowners create long-term, adaptive management plans that will build on and sustain the network. Create new initiatives within the Conservation Lands Network, such as the upcoming Bay Area Critical Linkages Project, that strengthen and deepen ongoing conservation opportunities.
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 will be profiling the Network, the accompanying tools and how you can take action on our blog this week. Learn more at BayAreaLands.organd 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.
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 will be profiling the Network, the accompanying tools and how you can take action on our blog this week. Learn more at BayAreaLands.organd 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.
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