As I reach my first anniversary here, CGF enters its 43rd year of aggressively protecting and preserving the wonderful natural resources we have here on the Peninsula, the Coast and the South Bay. Committee for Green Foothills draws its strength from its many assets: our founders who organized to protect open space, our volunteer board leaders, CGF's outstanding advocates and the organization's many supporters who remain dedicated to preserving the natural areas of our region.

Honoring our founders
Recently, two founders of our organization, leading conservationists who continue to inspire us with their vision, were honored for their foresight and dedication in protecting open space.

Our Founding President Wallace Stegner is being honored in a six-month long exhibit ("Throwing a Long Shadow") at the Los Altos History Museum. I highly recommend this extensive exhibit that will give you real insight into his character and the influence Stegner had on so many people.

Another of CGF's founders, Lois Crozier-Hogle was recognized by the League of Women Voters for donating a conservation easement on her 11-acre foothills property to the City of Los Altos Hills.

Strengthening our board
This past year, CGF continued to add strong leaders to our organization. Jim Foran, Dave Pine and Joan Sherlock joined our Board of Directors, adding their energy and expertise to help us meet today's challenges.

And we are about to welcome April Vargas back to the Board, after she has spent two productive years working as our Legislative Advocate in San Mateo County alongside Lennie Roberts. April's dedicated focus on our successful work to extend the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to the Coast and update the Midcoast Local Coastal Plan are largely complete, and she will return to our Board leaving our San Mateo County advocacy fully in Lennie's able hands.

Focus on advocacy
Of course, our advocacy for open space remains our major focus. We are working with the Parks for the Future Committee to craft a plan to establish a dedicated source of funding for San Mateo County Parks. This effort will eliminate the need to close County parks as happened last summer.

We continue our work to preserve threatened open space on the San Mateo County Coast through educational and outreach events targeted at agriculture preservation and water use issues.

In Santa Clara County, Legislative Advocate Brian Schmidt has been leading the effort to control the impact of the Hanson Quarry on our hillside viewshed. Through Brian's efforts, Hanson Quarry is following CGF's recommendation on the visible overburden area.

In the South Bay, our work to protect Coyote Valley from inappropriate and unnecessary development continues as we advocate expanding the number of alternatives reviewed in the upcoming Environmental Impact Report. CGF is also working with SAVRA, the South Almaden Valley Rural Alliance, to stop an illegal development in the Almaden Valley and protect that region's rural character.

Building our membership
Our most important asset is our strong and committed membership. Our annual appeal at the end of last year brought in 190 generous gifts, and we thank each of our donors. In the coming year we hope to expand our membership, both to broaden our base of support in the community and to reach more citizen activists who can help with our work.

As our founding President said "The brook would lose its song if we removed the rocks." With your ongoing support, we will continue to advocate and take action to protect our rare treasure of local open space in our region - and make sure we hear the music.