Coastal Resilience

San Mateo County’s rural coastside is a vital and irreplaceable natural resource, which supports a diverse array of wildlife and provides respite and joy to visitors from around the world.

For over 50 years, Green Foothills has worked tirelessly to protect this unique region. Key victories include:

Despite these successes, unrelenting pressure for inappropriate development continues. While hard-won coastal protection policies have been included in the San Mateo County and Half Moon Bay Local Coastal Programs, poorly located development proposals persist along the coast. Green Foothills vigilantly monitors these proposals to ensure the coast remains protected, as mandated by voters through the 1972 California Coastal Initiative and the 1986 San Mateo County Coastal Protection Initiative.

Now, climate change poses new challenges:

  • Sea level rise and erosion threaten beaches and coastal bluffs.
  • Flooding endangers homes and businesses near the water.
  • Extreme heat and wildfires jeopardize agriculture and farmworkers.

Green Foothills is working to address these challenges and advance climate resilience on the coast. Our work includes advocating for:

  • Climate-adaptive policies at county and city levels to protect coastal communities and ecosystems.
  • Smart development that avoids vulnerable areas, protects sensitive habitats and farmland, and focuses development in existing communities.
  • Nature-based solutions like allowing natural coastal erosion to replenish beaches, and restoring floodplains to protect developed areas and increase farmland fertility.
  • Protection of coastal farmland and support for agricultural workers, including affordable housing, protection from extreme heat, and opportunities for farmworkers to create their own agribusinesses.

We need your help to create a sustainable future for San Mateo County’s coast. Join us in our work to preserve this irreplaceable natural treasure for generations to come. Sign up to be notified of opportunities to voice your opinion on issues affecting the coast.

Support the San Mateo Coast today!

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Thank You to Those Who Make Our Work Possible

Green Foothills appreciates every individual, agency, and foundation who makes our work possible and we are proud to recognize every contributor in Our Donor Community. Thanks to their generous support, we are able to champion land use decisions that affirm and support open space, biodiversity, climate resilience, and natural resources in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. To ensure local nature always has an advocate, please become a Sustaining Contributor today.

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