Hip Hip Hooray, A Celebration for Earth Day!

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What do an inflatable globe, a gopher snake and a musician have in common? They all helped bring the Open Space Authority’s Earth Day celebration to life at Santana Row!

A collage of people enjoying an Earth Day event - two people pose with an inflatable globe, a person holds a gopher snake and a musician playing guitar sings into a microphone.
(Left) Directors Sutherland (D4) & Dominguez (D6) take a photo in front of an inflatable globe; (Center) A Youth Science Institute representative holds a gopher snake; (Right) Martin and the Green Guitar plays music using a solar-powered sound system.

This special Earth Day celebration was part of the Coyote Valley Conservation Areas Master Plan (CVCAMP)’s Discovery Days, a series of spring-time, family-friendly events that invites the public to learn more about Coyote Valley and the Open Space Authority’s proposed restoration of and design plans for the landscape. 

Scroll through the photos below to learn more about this special celebration for the incredible big blue marble we call “home.”
 

Shaping the Future of Coyote Valley Together
Visitors of an Open Space Authority learn about the Coyote Valley landscape with the help of a 3D map.
Coyote Valley Project Director Nick Perry uses a 3D landscape map to help Earth Day attendees visualize the valley’s topography. Photo by Annamarie Pilon.
Abundant Agricultural Amenities
An Open Space Authority staff member and an Earth Day attendee stand in front of a banner for the potential agricultural amenities being considered for Coyote Valley.
Thea Yang (left), the Open Space Authority’s Associate Open Space Planner, talks with an Earth Day event attendee about possible future agricultural destinations and amenities in Coyote Valley. Photo by Annamarie Pilon.
Collecting Community Feedback
An Open Space Authority representative stands behind an outreach booth that displays four potential destinations being considered as part of the restoration of Coyote Valley while a mother and her young child listen to the representative..
Jennifer Peth (right), the Open Space Authority’s Senior Open Space Planner, walks an Earth Day attendee through four potential destinations being considered as part of the Coyote Valley restoration process, and invites them to vote for their favorite.
Creativity Meets Conservation
A mother and her daughter sit at a table and color a wooden snake with markers.
Earth Day event attendees had the opportunity to participate in an array of hands-on crafts, including coloring wooden snakes and making wildlife puppets and masks. Photo by Avery Cruz.
Family Fun in the Sun
A father and daughter create an Earth Day bracelet with the help of an Open Space Authority staff member.
Kat Hill, the Open Space Authority’s Educational Programs Coordinator, helps a father and daughter put the finishing touches on an Earth Day bracelet. Photo by Avery Cruz.
Learning, Exploring and Engaging
An Earth Day celebration shows a grass area with a cut out mountain lion poster, tables and chairs for kids crafts and people wandering through the area and seeking shade under umbrellas.
The Earth Day event included an area for young children and adults to participate and enjoy nature-based crafts, educational wildlife activities, free facepainting and explore the Authority’s Nature Activity Book. Photo by Neil McBride.

The event, held on April 19 in San José, invited Santa Clara Valley residents to experience nature in an unexpected setting: Santana Row’s vibrant urban village and shopping center.

Thank you to our amazing partners Peninsula Open Space Trust, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action and Youth Science Institute for taking part in this Earth Day celebration.
 

A collage of Earth Day activities including outreach booths from Peninsula Open Space Trust and Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action as well as a representative from Youth Science Institute holding a gopher snake.
Earth Day attendees had the opportunity to interact with the Open Space Authority's partners, including Peninsula Open Space Trust (left), Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action (center) and Youth Science Institute (right).

This event was also made possible thanks to generous funding from the California State Coastal Conservancy. There’s still time to learn about the restoration and design plans for Coyote Valley and provide feedback! Watch our Coyote Valley planning team explain the proposed designs here and take our survey to help shape the future of Coyote Valley here.

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