The South County is growing by leaps and bounds. Many residents commute to jobs in San Jose and parts north. Why not build new homes and businesses in the Coyote Valley, that empty stretch of U.S. 101 between here and there?
As it turns out, there are a lot of excellent reasons why Coyote Valley must be preserved and protected.
The Coyote Valley, and Coyote Ridge to the east of the valley, are some of the most beautiful areas in California. When he walked through here in 1868 on his way to Yosemite, John Muir wrote: “The last of the Coast Range foothills were in near view all the way to Gilroy. Their union with the valley is by curves and slopes of inimitable beauty, and they were robed with the greenest grass and richest light I ever beheld, and colored and shaded with millions of flowers of every hue chiefly of purple and golden yellow; and hundreds of crystal rills joined songs with the larks, filling all the valley with music like a sea, making it an Eden from end to end…”
Almost 150 years later, a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit, Scenic America, designated Coyote Valley as one of the 10 most endangered landscapes in America.
Fortunately, a temporary reprise, if not a solution, was found. For planning purposes, Coyote Valley was divided into three sections: north, middle and south. The north valley is designated as a commercial and industrial area, but will be preserved for the next 30 years. However, it has already been annexed by the City of San Jose and building permits have been issued.
The South Valley has been designated as open space by the cities of Morgan Hill and San Jose, and the County.
The issue is the middle section of Coyote Valley. It is designated as an urban reserve but has not yet been annexed by San Jose and no building permits have yet been issued. However, 25,000 homes for an estimated 80,000 residents, plus the necessary infrastructure (hospitals, stores, services and roads) are planned.
The Coyote Valley area is home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including the Bay checkerspot butterfly. In addition, it has recently been identified as a major raptor habitat. Twenty-two species of raptors have been verified in Coyote Valley, and this summer a pair of threatened Swainson’s hawks nested there for the first time in more than 100 years. The nest was considered such an important ornithological event that its discovery was kept secret until the hawks’ chick had successfully fledged. Bald eagles, our national symbol, winter in Coyote Valley.
Coyote Valley is also a major wildlife corridor between the Santa Cruz mountains to the west and the Diablo range to the east. Larger animals in particular need large areas of land in order to maintain healthy populations and a diverse gene pool. Restricting movement would result in extinctions and a less healthy overall population of these animals.
Lastly, two creeks in the area, Coyote Creek and Fisher Creek, offer the potential to restore endangered steelhead into those waterways.
The middle section of Coyote Valley is temporarily protected, but what will happen after 2040?
Local conservation and land use organizations are working on this issue. A planning process is needed to preserve Coyote Valley’s ecological, agricultural and recreational values. Now is the time to see that it will be protected, not only for the animals and plants, but for our grandchildren, their grandchildren, on into the future.
President Johnson got it right when he said: “If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.”
Amy Randall Yee has lived in Santa Clara County for 35 years, and has volunteered at WERC for six years. She is also the President of the Board of Directors of WERC.
