Palo Alto Nature Lovers: Take Action!

Palo Alto Nature Lovers, Please Take Action Today

What is happening?

On Monday, January 29, 2024 | 05:30 PM the Palo Alto City Council will hold its Annual Retreat/Priority Setting Meeting at the Mitchell Park Community Center. At this meeting, Mayor Stone and Council members will review and select a few high level topics that will receive significant attention during the year. This is an opportunity for community members to share our thoughts on what priorities the City Council should adopt for 2024.

Why is this important?

In 2023, the Natural Environment was prioritized in addition to Climate Change. This made a difference: the City has adopted a new Tree Master Plan which protects more native trees, and started working on regulation to protect birds from collision with glass and other man-made hazards, and to protect us (and the dark sky) from the harmful effects of light pollution. Other work is yet to start. We should do better in protecting our waterways from encroachment, allowing wildlife connectivity and enhancing habitat for wildlife. This is our opportunity to ask our elected officials to continue prioritizing Biodiversity and the Natural Environment, and to ask them to continue work on policies for Bird Safe Design, reducing light pollution, protecting creeks and riparian corridors, and reducing the use of plastic in landscaping.

What can you do?

Attend the public meeting and speak, or write an email, to ask Mayor Stone, Vice Mayor Lauing and Council to: Prioritize Biodiversity and the Natural Environment as a city priority for 2024

• Develop and adopt regulations that should help reduce light pollution and protect the Dark Sky 

• Develop and adopt regulations that should help reduce bird-collision hazards 

• Develop and adopt regulations to protect water quality in creeks and protect riparian corridors from encroachment 

• Develop and adopt regulations to reduce the use of plastic in landscaping, especially artificial turf. 

• Continue to study and implement protections to our baylands, and protect the community from the impacts of sea level rise.

To attend and speak: Please join us on Monday, January 29 | 5:30 at the Mitchell Park Community Center.

To email: 
To: city.council@cityofpaloalto.org
Subject: Please Prioritize Biodiversity and the Natural Environment
Email: Please write a little about yourself and why you care about nature and biodiversity, and choose all or some of the points above to write about.

October 2023 Conservation Corner

Action Alert: Saratoga

Threat to Acorn Woodpeckers in Saratoga

The Saratoga Retirement Community looks for approval of plans for new residential buildings and facilities. This project plans to remove 124 trees, including 65 trees that are protected by City ordinance. Among the trees slated for removal is a majestic cork oak that provides a granary and a  home to a colony of acorn woodpeckers. The removal of the tree is planned to make room for grading, a pathway, and a swale. 

Acorn Woodpeckers are fascinating birds. They live in large social groups and work together to store thousands of acorns in granaries, like the granary in the Saratoga cork oak.  Males and females, raise young  together in a single nest in a tree cavity. These are such endearing birds!  No wonder residents of the retirement community described , “This huge tree is the nesting place for a large number of woodpeckers, who drill into the soft cork bark to store hundreds of acorns each winter. This natural resource simply cannot be restored if the tree is removed.”

Saratoga Planning Commission will discuss the project on September 27 (details below) . Please let the Planning Commission know that this tree should not be removed, and ask for the plans to be revised to ensure that the tree is protected. Please also ask for the new buildings to incorporate Bird Safety measures in all glass surfaces, and to reduce light pollution - as suggested in our SCVAS comment letter to the City of Saratoga. 

How You Can Help

Participate in a Study Session on Wednesday September 27, 2023 before the Planning Commission will take place on Wednesday September 27, 2023, beginning with a site meeting at 6:00 p.m. which will adjourn and resume at the Civic Theater at 7:30 p.m. 

Participate In Person

6PM at the project site (14500 Fruitvale Avenue) 

AND/Or

The  Civic Theater at 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratoga, CA 95070.

Participate Online

Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83234319864
Webinar ID: 832 3431 9864

Submit Written Comments

Comments can be submitted in writing at www.saratoga.ca.us/comment.  Written communications will be provided to the members of the Planning Commission included in the Agenda Packet and/or supplemental meeting materials.

Dark Sky Advocacy 

Valley Christian High School student Canis Li comment to county supervisors:

Good morning supervisors. Thank you for this opportunity to speak. 

My name is Canis Li, I live in Evergreen in San Jose, and I’m a senior at Valley Christian High School interested in astronomy. I’d like to take this moment to talk a little bit about the night sky, because I think a lot of us overlook just how powerful it is. To me, the night sky is not just an indicator that today is ending and tomorrow will begin. It’s a beautiful sight that I can be lost in for hours, and the more I lose myself, the more I realize that “life is short”, and that compared to the stars, we’re just a second in a calendar year. I’m grateful to the night sky for inspiring me and fostering my curiosity. But I’d like to say my feelings aren’t unique. The stars have inspired generations of poets, musicians, scientists, artists, and dreamers. Vincent Van Gogh himself once said, “For my part, I know nothing with any certainty but that the sight of the stars makes me dream.” I hope that in the future, generations can continue to marvel at space and find humility in its vastness. But currently it’s becoming apparent our ability to do so is being more and more compromised by the rapid increase in light pollution that we’re facing. Light pollution is harming our ability to stargaze, but it’s also more serious than that—the circadian rhythms of humans, birds and nocturnal animals are being disrupted; just from light pollution alone we’re losing 3 billion dollars a year, and adding 15 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. But the good news is that this is preventable. And it starts with more conscious lighting designs. I’m determined to keep the magic of the night sky alive, and I hope you help me in this journey of fighting light pollution. 

Thank you, 

Canis Li

Agenda for Joint Special Meeting, 9/18/2023

JOINT SPECIAL MEETING OF THE

MOUNTAIN VIEW CITY COUNCIL

SHORELINE REGIONAL PARK COMMUNITY

MOUNTAIN VIEW LOS ALTOS HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT AND MOUNTAIN VIEW WHISMAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

5:30 p.m.

MICHAEL'S AT SHORELINE RESTAURANT

2960 N. Shoreline Blvd.

Pebble Beach Room

This meetng is being conducted with a virtual component. Anyone wishing to address the bodies virtually may join the meeting online at: https://mountainview.zoom.us/j/84351267142 or by dialing (669) 900-9128 and entering Webinar ID: 843 5126 7142. When public comment is called for, click the “raise hand” feature in Zoom or dial *9 on your phone. When your name is called to provide public comment, if you are partcipating via phone, please press *6 to unmute yourself.

Agenda

5:30 – 5:35pm Welcome & Acknowledgements

5:35 – 5:40pm Roll Call

5:40 – 5:50pm Agenda Overview:

Meeting Purpose & Parameters

5:50 – 6:00pm Where We Have Been:

Brief Recap of Historical Context

6:00 – 6:30pm Public Comment

6:30 – 7:00pm Where We Are:

Norms for Joint Agency Meeting & Ad Hoc Committee Meetings

Inspiration for Public Service

Agency Contributions & Examples of Successful Collaboration

7:00 – 7:50pm Where We Are Going:

Common Values & Vision for the Future Joint Agency Relationship

Hurdles to Reaching a Successor Agreement

Ideas for Achieving Success

7:50 – 7:55pm Framework for Success:

Considerations to Support Ad Hoc Committee

Work

7:55 – 8:00pm Wrap‐up & Next Steps Shoreline Community

Protect Shoreline Regional Park Funding

Please join us on Monday, Sept 18, 5:30 PM, to protect funding for Shoreline Park and its wildlife

Please join us at the Pebble room at Michael’s Restaurant at Shoreline Park at 5:30PM, or call in on ZOOM (or by dialing (669) 900-9128 and entering Webinar ID: 843 5126 7142) to speak up and ask the City of Mountain View and the school district trustees not to reduce the funding for Shoreline Regional Park! Tell members of the City Council and the School Board Trustees why the park is important to you and your family, and that Shoreline Park is special and merits continued, consistent investment.

Background:

The Shoreline Regional Park Community was created in 1969 by the California legislature as a special park district. Its core purposes are to develop and operate a regional park and enhance the area environmentally and economically. The Mountain View school districts currently receive millions of dollars from the Shoreline Community Fund, and are seeking a larger share of the fund.

The Shoreline Community Fund, paid into by North Bayshore businesses, provides a critical and irreplaceable budget for all of the important functions, services and programs that Shoreline Park entails. This includes: wildlife conservation (including Burrowing Owls, Black Skimmers, and many other sensitive animal species), protections from sea level rise, landfill operations to ensure that greenhouse gasses do not escape the landfill, recreation and educational opportunities, and general upkeep of the park that is visited by millions of Bay Area residents every year.

Meeting Agenda