The Committee is Watching...

Committee for Green Foothills’ Legislative Advocates and volunteers juggle multiple projects to protect the environment in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. In addition to those projects described in this issue's articles, the Committee is watching:

... Stanford’s foothills, where the Board of Supervisors just approved the construction of a new office complex for the Carnegie Foundation. We’ll watch to ensure that environmental protections are implemented and that the County creates a strong conservation easement for the California Tiger Salamander.

... the San Mateo County coast, where the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is working to expand the District’s boundaries to the continental edge.

... candidates for local city councils. While CGF does not endorse candidates, our Legislative Advocate Denice Dade and her colleagues on the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters Board have endorsed environment-friendly candidates.

... the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department , which recently held a Strategic Planning session at which we provided input for the creation and implementation of their new Strategic Plan.

... Pescadero/Butano Watershed, where a battle is raging over developing solutions to the complex causes of sedimentation and resulting flooding in Pescadero.

... the foothills east of San Jose, where the Lion Development Company proposes development of a massive tiered cemetery, mausoleum, and terracing on exposed hillsides.

... the Federal Highway Administration, which is expected to issue a long-awaited Record of Decision for the Devil's Slide Tunnel.

... Stanford University and Santa Clara County, to ensure timely and effective implementation of environmental protections established by the Stanford Community Plan and General Use Permit.

... the Los Altos History Museum, whose new "Heroes of Open Space" exhibit honored CGF founders and other Peninsula leaders.

... the Trails Plan Stanford submitted to the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department, to ensure that the recreational trails the University is required to create are safe, well-located, and pleasant.

... TV—specifically, Common Ground TV (CGTV), an environmental news and talk program co-produced by Committee for Green Foothills. Tapes of each program are available at the Acterra Environmental Library in Palo Alto.

... Week’s Creek, a tributary to Pescadero Creek, where we're working with a greenhouse owner to get his illegal dam and silt pond moved, thereby restoring free-flowing waters and restoring salmonid spawning habitat.

... land use policies throughout Santa Clara County. At the Board's recent Land Use Workshop, CGF and other environmental groups focused on key land use issues with county-wide implications for open space.

... the Northern Section of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association, which recently awarded its Outstanding Planning Project award to the Stanford University Community Plan and General Use Permit, documents CGF spent two years helping create.