Santa Teresa County Historic Park

Bay Area Wilderness Training is increasing access to the outdoors for Santa Clara educators, youth, and families by leading wilderness trainings and providing free outdoor equipment loans. BAWT Outdoor Leadership Trainings offers course scholarships for at-need educators and students in Santa Clara Valley. Free equipment for youth and leaders is administered through the South Bay Gear Library located in Milpitas to support educator-led trips in the South Bay.

The Authority contributed $400,000 to help the City of San Jose transform a neglected utility corridor into a recreational parkway with a meandering trail and landscaping that includes many native plants. Interpretive signage describes bio-retention swales that are part of the project and tell the story of Gary Albertson, a highway safety activist. The parkway is named in his memory.

The Authority contributed funds towards the Santa Clara County Public Health Department's Park and Play Initiative, which aims to address health equity related to park utilization by underserved communities. The goal of this Initiative is for families to visit Santa Clara County Parks, participate in park programming, and become comfortable utilizing parks on an ongoing basis to increase their physical activity and overall understanding of environmental stewardship. Park utilization has many known benefits including diabetes management and prevention, depression and anxiety reduction, and increasing community cohesion. Many of the families in the geographic focus area for this initiative (Milpitas and East San Jose) have had limited opportunities to visit parks and limited exposure to environmental education.