Last month we received the great news that Lehigh Quarry operators were shutting down the kiln at the Lehigh cement plant and stopping all further mining. However, other parts of Lehigh’s operations at the site could continue for up to 20 years. This makes it vitally important for Santa Clara County to take action to...
Update: On December 13, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ask the County Planning Commission to consider revoking the use permit for the Lehigh Quarry cement plant based on its legal violations and because the plant constitutes a public nuisance. On Tuesday, December 13, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will decide whether...
Sometimes when nature is destroyed it is lost forever, but fortunately that is not always true. California’s tule elk once numbered about 500,000 before nearly going extinct due to hunting and habitat encroachment. But today they are bouncing back. From a tiny population discovered in the Central Valley in the late 1800s, the species has...
While environmental issues mostly did well at the ballot box in November, there was one big disappointment in San Benito County with the failure of Measure Q, meant to protect agriculture and ranchlands across that county. Regardless, Green Foothills is proud to support local environmentalists and will help with some important next steps there in...
Less than 1 year ago, San Jose made the historic decision to protect Coyote Valley from industrial development. Now, the same landowners who tried to get a huge Amazon-style warehouse approved in Coyote Valley are back with yet another destructive development proposal, which would bypass local planning rules and convert 128 acres of open space...
This November, San Benito County voters will have a chance for long-term preservation of 2,700 acres that they previously stopped developers from destroying in 2020, and at the same time to protect the majority of the County’s 890,000 rural acres from unwanted sprawl development. Measure Q, a General Plan initiative amendment on the November...
On June 8th, the San Jose Planning Commission voted 5-3 to direct city staff to conduct a more thorough review of environmental issues with a proposed development along the Santa Teresa ridge. The 17-acre property is ecologically part of Coyote Valley but the City planning maps show it as just north and outside of North...
Residents of the Bay Area are quite familiar with the golden hillsides surrounding us during the summer dry season. Yet now those hills remind us that we are in the midst of another severe drought, just five years after a record-breaking dry spell for our state. During a drought emergency, the impact and importance of...
On Wednesday, June 8, the San Jose Planning Commission will consider whether to approve a 5,900 square foot residence on environmentally sensitive, undeveloped land at the north end of Coyote Valley. The location includes an old canal that offers one of only two safe spots for wildlife to cross Santa Teresa Boulevard. Please tell the...
On Tuesday, June 7, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will receive a report summarizing the more than 2,100 known legal violations Lehigh Quarry and cement plant have been cited for during the last 10 years by local, state, and federal agencies. Please ask the Supervisors to finally begin imposing its own fines on...
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