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:

... for that first shovelful of dirt to be moved for the Devil's Slide tunnel during the groundbreaking ceremony set for Friday, May 6.

... Spanish-speaking web surfers, who can now read the CGF website en Espanol thanks to the translation button on our home page at www.GreenFoothills.org.

... the South Bay foothills, where CGF successfully defeated a proposal for a 25,000-square private house on a ridgeline, and got the Santa Clara County Supervisors to consider developing house size limits and ridgeline/viewshed protections that could keep us from fighting proposed "monster mansions" one at a time.

... CGF member and raptor guy Gary Deghi, who in January led two dozen CGF members on an informative hike through the Wavecrest property in Half Moon Bay. Thanks, Gary!

... hints that the Building Industry Association, the League of Cities, and Gov. Schwarzenegger might use the need for more housing as an excuse to "reform" (and perhaps gut) the 35-year old California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

... for CGF's event Nature's Inspirations: Celebrating the Arts on the afternoon of Sunday, October 2.

... Stanford's survey crews on Alpine Road, who are testing the feasibility of expanding the roadside trail there, indicating that the university may continue to claim that expanding an existing trail will satisfy their commitment to build a new C1 trail alignment, intended to mitigate the development rights they were granted in 2001.

... the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which is in the process of updating its Good Neighbor Policy to strengthen collaborative relationships with owners of property bordering their preserves.

... the CTETA Horse Park in Menlo Park to monitor the impacts of some big events planned at this property along Sand Hill Road.

... the Los Altos Hills League of Women Voters, who hosted a forum in February on conservation easements and presented the Mary and Wallace Stegner Award for Environmental Stewardship to CGF co-founder Lois Crozier-Hogle, who recently announced the donation of an 11-acre conservation easement to the town.

… the proposed expansion of the Lexington Quarry, which has raised community groups' concerns about the effects of expansion, and about whether the property, south of Los Gatos and adjacent to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's Sierra Azul Preserve, will be adequately protected when quarrying ends.

... the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, which recently awarded CGF a two-year grant to help protect the San Mateo County Coast.

... the floundering California Performance Review, in which the Governor's proposed elimination of many Boards and Commissions (including some that provide environmental oversight and protection) is coming under fire from the Legislature and the public.

… Morgan Hill's proposals for either a greenbelt, which could be a valuable buffer from sprawl, or an expanded Urban Line Limit, which - if expanded far beyond the current Urban Growth Boundary - presents a real risk of sprawl and land speculation.

... for members who are leaving a legacy by designating CGF as a beneficiary of their estate, and who are asked to call Tom Cronin at (650) 968-7243.