YOU Can Make a Difference; Read How in This eNewsletter
► Watch the Bay Alive Campaign's new video "Are You Ready for Groundwater Rise?".
► Learn about Palo Alto Airport's proposal to expand into the wetlands.
► 2024 Guardians of Nature Benefit early bird tickets available only four more weeks; buy yours today.
► Register for the Bay Alive Campaign's "Shape the Bay's Future Now!" webinar to learn about the upcoming Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan.
► Read about East Palo Alto's redevelopment plan to allow as much as 3.3 million square feet of new office and R&D space.
► Take a hike! See the comprehensive list of Chapter activities available through August.
Can Our Bay Depend on You?
Watch the Bay Alive Campaign's video "Are you ready for groundwater rise?", the newest video in its sea level rise series. Learn more about this hidden threat of sea level rise, then join our Bay Alive Campaign and take action!
Join our Chapter Outing Chair and Forest Protection Committee for a unique joint hike in Wunderlich County Park. Co-led by our docents David Cowman, Forest Ecologist, and Kellyx Nelson, Director of the San Mateo Resource Conservation District. Learn about forest health and fire resiliency along our SC 1A hike along the Skyline Trail.
Proposed Palo Alto Airport Expansion Could Encroach on Vulnerable Wetlands
The City of Palo Alto is currently exploring options to expand the airport runway to accommodate larger and more demanding aircraft. This expansion, however, could encroach on nearby wetlands, take dedicated parkland, threaten Bay ecosystems and pollute neighboring communities with noise and lead deposition.
If you’re interested in getting involved in protecting Palo Alto’s wetlands and parkland, email Dashiell.leeds@sierraclub.org.
Early Birds Tickets are Available for Only Four More Weeks!
Take advantage of our discounted ticket prices before they expire on September 8th! Join us at our largest annual event to raise a glass in celebration of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, our 2024 Guardians of Nature honoree, recognizing her decades of exemplary environmental protection and advocacy leadership. Enjoy the company of fellow Loma Prietans, savor delicious hors d’oeuvres and wine, and help us secure the necessary funds for protecting and preserving our local environment.
Shape the Bay's Future Now!
A Two-Part Series on the upcoming Regional ShorelineAdaptation Plan September 11th 7:00 - 8:00 pm
If you care about our Bay, don’t miss the unprecedented opportunity to ensure a resilient future for its ecologies and communities! Join the Bay Alive Campaign on September 11 for a short educational webinar anticipating the Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s public release of their draft Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), which provides guidelines that will shape the future of our region-wide response to sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay. We’ll help you get up to speed on the RSAP and its importance, so you’ll be ready and confident to submit your public comments once the guidelines are public. Learn more and register.
Regional Plan to Fight Sea-level Rise Underway
Bay Alive Campaign is featured in this San Mateo Daily Journal article! Our own Jennifer Hetterly, Bay Alive Campaign Coordinator, is quoted, along with San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and Save the Bay.
“What one jurisdiction chooses to do can have negative impacts or constrain the options that are available to other communities, in terms of protecting their shorelines and their communities,” she said. “That’s the biggest problem — we want to make sure that these guidelines go as far as they can to avoid those unintended impacts.” Read the full article.
East Palo Alto - Ravenswood Business District
East Palo Alto's redevelopment plan to allow as much as 3.3 million square feet of new office and research and development space, primarily on the Bay shoreline, is approaching the finish line. The Loma Prieta Chapter's Bay Alive team is working with Nuestra Casa, a community-based organization in East Palo Alto, and other environmental organizations to review the City's recently released (500+ page!) draft environmental impact report, share information about it with EPA residents, and prepare written comments before the September 10 deadline. Read the recent comment letter.
Marbled Murrelets at Risk
This is the sixth of an awareness through artwork series, by our 16 year-old volunteer Aiden Chen, that we introduced in January.
The Marbled Murrelet is a threatened seabird species that lives off the western coast of the US. They, like the typical seabird, feed from the ocean, but where they begin to differ is their unique behavior of nesting high up on the branches of trees in mature and old growth forests. However, extensive logging and development have destroyed vast areas of their nesting grounds. Such destruction also means fragmentation of forests, increasing their exposure to predators. In addition, their shoreline feeding behavior makes them reliant on the health of oceans. To conserve and save these birds, Sierra Club's Bay Alive and 30x30 campaigns promote the use of nature based solutions to protect the San Francisco Bay wetlands, associated habitats, and human communities from sea level rise. The 30x30 campaign works to conserve 30% of California’s lands and waters by 2030.Learn more.
Sign Our Petition Letter to BCDC Commissioners
Time is racing towards a final decision at the end of this year for Bay Conservation and Development Commission's (BCDC's) Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP). We're intensifying our efforts to build public awareness and engagement.
Sea level rise poses an undeniable threat to the Bay Area. The RSAP presents a crucial opportunity for coordinated regional action to bolster the resilience of our communities and ecological assets against climate change.
San Francisco Bay’s shoreline habitats are invaluable public assets. Beyond mitigating flood and storm surges, these ecosystems sequester carbon, filter pollution, and moderate temperatures, services that are vital for our region’s health, safety, and ecological balance. As climate change worsens, they will become even more indispensable as our first, and arguably most cost-effective, defense against sea level rise.
Sea Level Rise Webinar Series
How can local cities and residents use nature-basedadaptations to sea level rise? Watch recordings of our webinar series with SF Bay experts and please share with your local elected officials.
Join Us for the August 26 Forest Protection Forum!
Please join us for the next Forest Protection Forum from 4pm to 5:30pm on August 26!
We will watch “Crown Jewels,” a gorgeous film about old growth forests directed by forest activist and digital media creator Alex Haraus. Afterwards, Alex Craven, Sierra Club’s forest campaign manager, will discuss our opportunity to provide comments to protect old growth trees and forests on federal lands. Learn more.
Our Military Outdoors is pleased to announce a new Meetup group for veterans, active military and family members of veterans. If you serve/d or have someone in your family who serves/d, please join us for some free and fun outdoor activities including:
Pole Hiking Training
Pole Walking Training for Exercise
Pole Walking Training for Balance & Maintaining Mobilit
Day Hikes
Special Adventures
As a member of the Military Outdoors Sierra Club Meetup, you’ll be notified when new events and activities are announced, and you can suggest activities, comment, add photos, and more.
"The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s Sustainable Land Use Committee (SLU) advocates on sustainability and land use issues in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. In that role, we respectfully submit the following comments for the DEIR for the Parkline project at the old SRI site. The Parkline project is a wonderful opportunity to transform the heart of the City. While we share the general concerns about traffic and housing, we wish to focus here on the mix of uses proposed for this infill site, in particular the mix of housing with research labs."
Ravenswood Business District/4 Corners Specific Plan Update Land Use and Development Standards
Last month Loma Prieta Chapter took to the water on Santa Clara County's Salt Marsh Tour at Alviso Marino County Park. It was a beautiful, cloudless day, perfect to gently coast along and learn about salt pond reclamation and the importance of salt marshes in the face of climate change and sea level rise. Learn more about the Bay Alive Campaign and our work in preparation of sea level rise.
Thanks to everyone that joined us on the boat tour, and to Loma Prieta Pride (previously Loma Prieta Gay and Lesbian Sierrans) for organizing the outing!
Cesar Chavez and Loma Prieta Chapter: Surprising History Uncovered
Recently, Jati Wibisono, San Jose State University student and Loma Prieta volunteer, interviewed Les Kishler, Loma Prieta Executive Committee Member, Conservation Committee Chair, and Guadalupe Regional Group Chair in the 1980s, to capture some of the important history of the chapter.
We are delighted to share with you the Loma Prieta Chapter’s 2023 Summary, where you can read how you have helped us to positively impacted our region. All the successful advocacy and education we undertake are possible because of individual donations, which provide 70% of our annual budget, and the thousands of volunteer hours that leverage our Chapter staff's work. We thank you for your continuing partnership.
Palo Alto Environmental Stewardship Team
We are organizing an Environmental Stewardship Team in Palo Alto. This will be a pilot program that will serve as a template for teams in other cities in our chapter. If you live in Palo Alto, we invite you to join us in our environmental advocacy activities. You can do as much as you would like, depending on your time and inclination. You can limit your involvement to just making public comments at official meetings a few times a year. Or, you can participate in our regular meetings, meet fellow activists, join socials and hikes, write op-eds and articles, and more.
Cleanup (Aug. 13th, 17th), Weeding (Aug. 18th), BioBlitz (Aug. 25th), and Naturalist Training (Aug. 28th) from our friends at Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
One of the best ways to safeguard a thriving and just future is by ensuring that your Loma Prieta Chapter remains a champion for the environment of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito Counties. Naming us as a beneficiary in your bequest will provide meaningful and enduring resources that will allow continued local and powerful environmental activism.
Please contact our Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman for the specific language for your estate planning and/or read more here. For additional information about planning a bequest please contact Julia Curtis, (800) 932-4270.
Photographers, see the great images in our Chapter Annual Summaries and help protect local nature with your images! Share with us your high-resolution photos of local nature, with or without people, to inspire local residents to support Loma Prieta Chapter work. Please contact Chapter Development Coordinator Justyna Guterman.
2018.01.20: Loma Prieta Day Hiking Section in Enid Pearson - Arastradero Preserve: 20 miles, 2415 ft gain.
These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
