Kat Hill interviewed by ABC 7

Pressroom

Pressroom

Media Inquiries

Welcome to the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority pressroom. 

If you are seeking information and imagery for educational purposes or media use, please reach out to the Public Information Officer.

Press Contact

Charlotte Graham

Public Information

408-439-6541

News@openspaceauthority.org

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The Open Space Authority monthly e-newsletter shares important, timely events, information and fun facts about your open space preserves. Click here to read the latest newsletter!

In The News

External links to recent articles about the Open Space Authority
Hearts Delight Trail at Coyote Valley. The grass is green and the trail is lined with oak trees.

April 22, 2025 - San Jose Spotlight

Op-Ed Andrea Mackenzie: Earth Month — a time to recognize all that nature does for us

Infrastructure isn’t often associated with beauty or inspiration — but in the case of nature, it’s both. The natural environment does more for us than most of us understand. Earth Month reminds us nature isn’t an abstract concept, it’s an asset we must steward and invest in because nature is the most resilient, cost-effective and life-sustaining infrastructure we have.

Click here to read the full story.

A wooden trail marker in the foreground in front of a gravel trail winding through a field of golden grass, with golden hills dotted with dark trees in the distance, under a bright blue sky with some fluffy white clouds on the horizon

April 5, 2025 - ABC7 News

Coyote Valley Open Space concerned about funding for accessible trail project amid federal cuts

The budget upheaval in Washington is triggering concern among environmental planners here in the Bay Area. 

Click here to read or watch the full story.

Landscape photo of Coyote Valley

MARCH 25, 2025 - KQED

Uncertainty Looms Over Bay Area Climate Projects Under Trump: ‘We’re in Triage’

Despite plans to break ground in 2026, project leaders say they have yet to get answers on the federal funding needed to build accessible trails in Coyote Valley. Potential federal cuts threaten at least $60 million in funding, stalling wildfire prevention efforts and other critical projects across the region. 

Click here to read the full article.

Photograph of Fisher Creek and Fishers Bend

March 11, 2025 - Northern California Public Media

The Women of Fisher Creek

When a group of women environmentalists from Point Blue Conservation Science and Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority get together to plant native flora along a creek bank in Coyote Valley, the conversation turns to the role of women in conservation.

Click here to watch.

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Press Releases & Media Advisories

Grasslands at the Tilton Ranch. There are large boulders in the foreground and the background shows the Santa Cruz Mountain Range.

Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and Peninsula Open Space Trust Protect 1,861-Acre Tilton Ranch, Bringing Total Acres Protected Adjoining Coyote Valley to 2,900

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(October 6, 2020) – Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency (Habitat Agency), Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Authority) and Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) today announced the purchase of 1,861 acres of Tilton Ranch, increasing permanently protected land to more than 2,900 acres adjacent to Coyote Valley, north of Morgan Hill. One of the largest remaining intact ranches in the South Bay, Tilton Ranch contains critical watershed for both Monterey and San Francisco Bays and is home to dozens of unique and endangered species, some of which occur only in this area.

Understanding Our Community Phase II Report Release

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The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Authority) releases its Understanding Our Community Phase II Report, a framework that builds on the Phase I report published in 2015, and has guided strategic conservation investments that has helped communities overcome barriers to accessing nature.
Laguna Seca with Water

San José City Council unanimously approved the purchase and permanent protection of 937 acres in the North Coyote Valley through an innovative public and private partnership among Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Santa Clara Valley Open Space Autho

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SAN JOSÉ, Calif. (August 3, 2020) – Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (the Authority) and Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced the completed purchase of a 235-acre parcel in the North Coyote Valley Conservation Area. The $16 million purchase is supported by $15 million in new funding from two state agencies: $5 million from the California State Coastal Conservancy and $10 million from the Wildlife Conservation Board. POST contributed the remaining $1 million.
OSA Staff and supporters hold a protect Coyote Valley sign outside City Hall

Public-Private Conservation Partnership Preserves 937 Acres in Coyote Valley

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The San José City Council unanimously approved the purchase and permanent protection of 937 acres in the North Coyote Valley through an innovative public and private partnership among Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (the Authority) and the City of San José. This conservation transaction secures a critical “last chance” wildlife linkage between the Santa Cruz and Diablo mountain ranges. This irreplaceable landscape features natural floodplains and wildlife habitat, mitigates wildfire impact and builds climate change resiliency for the citizens of the tenth-largest city in the nation.
Green Oak Tree leaves on a branch

242-Acre Purchase Completes Tapestry of Connected Open Space in Santa Cruz Mountains

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Undeveloped and largely untouched, a 242-acre purchase made by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Authority) in partnership with the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) completes another pivotal piece of the Santa Cruz Mountains preservation puzzle, opening new possibilities for growing an interconnected trail network.
A photo of a hill at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. The grass is green.

Coyote Valley Conservation Program Bill Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra Lays the Groundwork for a More Climate Resilient Future

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As agencies across the state are beginning to emphasize the importance of protecting our natural lands and their resources, Assemblymember Ash Kalra (DSan Jose) today announced the introduction of AB 948, which would create the Coyote Valley Conservation Program to be administered by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. If the bill is passed, Coyote Valley will receive statewide recognition as a landscape of significant importance for its natural infrastructure benefits including flood risk reduction, wildlife protection, and climate resilience.
A blue butterfly. There is a stripe of pink on its bottom wings lined with small black dots.

Public-Private Partnership Protects Another Key Open Space in the Santa Cruz Mountains

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Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Authority) today announced the purchase of a 159-acre property that widens a vital linkage between the Authority’s Rancho Cañada del Oro and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s (Midpen’s) Sierra Azul open space preserves. This adjacency provides opportunities for connecting recreation options across the two preserves, while securing wildlife habitat and expanding a protected corridor between Highway 17 and Coyote Valley – a high priority area for both organizations in their shared goal of creating habitat linkages for native wildlife.
A report cover that reads, "Healthy Lands & Healthy Economies: Nature's Value in Santa Clara County." A green leaf is pictured up close on the cover with a water droplet.

Our Open Spaces Provide Us with Benefits Valued up to $12.6 Billion

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The value of sweeping open space, working lands, and a thriving natural world can be difficult to place a numerical value on, but a collaboration between the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, and Sonoma County Ag + Open Space has done just that by estimating the monetary value of our soil, water, air, plants, and animals – in other words, our ‘natural capital.’