Save Mount Diablo

Beat the heat with us at Shell Ridge this Sunday, and join us for an easy morning hike! 🌞

🗓️: Sunday, July 28
🕓: 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
📍: Shell Ridge Open Space

Please RSVP on our website or on Eventbrite if you are able to attend so that we know to expect you.

Link in comments.

📸: Steve Balling

Help care for our thirsty plants! Join our watering crew! 💦

🗓️: Thursday, August 8
🕓: 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Please RSVP on our website or on Eventbrite if you are able to attend so that we know to expect you.

We'll post the link in the comments below.

A proposal to make an existing 95-acre garbage dump in San Benito County almost four times bigger has been canceled. Grassroots groups that fought against the expansion, which Save Mount Diablo helped with funding and communications, are cheering the victory!

The dump would have covered just under 500 acres east of Hollister, right at the edge of the Diablo Range.

Save Mount Diablo is supporting local efforts in San Benito County to support its agricultural economy and open space, and promote low-impact public recreation in the region’s protected areas.

San Benito County includes a larger part of the Diablo Range than any other county; we have a great opportunity to protect a large highly diverse area for wildlife, open space, and recreation.

📸: Courtesy of Protect San Benito

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” —Audrey Hepburn

📸: Gray hairstreak butterfly on goldenrod | Laura Kindsvater

Tell the Santa Clara Valley Water District to keep Pacheco wild. Make your voice heard by tomorrow, July 19th!

The proposed Pacheco Dam Project in Santa Clara County would inundate over 1,500 acres of land, including part of Henry W. Coe State Park, destroying valuable wildlife habitat and ranchland.

It could disturb tribal cultural resources in the area that date back over a thousand years, and cost taxpayers a whopping $2.5 BILLION!

Please provide public comments on the Design Level Geotechnical Investigations for the Pacheco Dam Project.

➡️Learn more on their page: Stop the Pacheco Dam Project

We'll post the link in the comments below.

Construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is well underway! 🐆🦌

Wildlife crossings like this help to connect fragmented habitats, and reduce collisions between wildlife and vehicles.

Habitat connectivity is vital for the health of California's ecosystems, including Mount Diablo.

Wouldn't it be great to eventually see a crossing like this built over Highway 580, helping to better connect Mount Diablo with more of the Diablo Range?

"Each year, there are more than a million collisions between wildlife and vehicles in the United States, which result in tens of thousands of human injuries and hundreds of human deaths. So wildlife crossings have become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years, with environmentalists and transportation officials agreeing on their benefits.

"The new crossing in Agoura Hills will be huge—200 feet long and 165 feet wide—and will be planted with native vegetation to match the surrounding landscape, with tall trees and walls covered with thick vegetation walls to block the din of cars whizzing underneath."

Here's some good climate news to start your week. The first members of the American Climate Corps (9,000 strong) have officially been sworn in, and will start working soon.

They'll be trained in a variety of green jobs, working to help our country address the climate crisis!

We'll post a link to the article in the comments below.

Sarah Lynch volunteers for Save Mount Diablo so that the lands in her backyard remain high quality open space.

She can often be found outside helping us care for the land, enjoying a hike, or gardening!

Sarah has been a huge help with our stewardship work.

Thank you for your hard work, Sarah, and we're delighted to honor you as our Volunteer of the Month!

“And for all I know he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly. He is very happy.” —Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf

📸: Kendra Smith | Golden eardrops at Del Puerto Canyon

The western meadowlark can be found up and down the Diablo Range. This bird is a member of the blackbird family and lives in grassland habitats such as Máyyan ‘Ooyákma – Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve, where this photo was taken.

According to NatureCheck by , the western meadowlark has been found in fewer places lately, and is therefore a species of concern.

NatureCheck also concluded that many populations of grassland birds are declining.

Conserving our local grassland ecosystems is vital for the protection of species that rely on these habitats.

📸: Scott Hein

Polls show Californians support investments in clean drinking water, wildfire prevention, clean air, and protecting our lands.

Thank you for putting also known as Prop. 4 on the November 2024 ballot!

Speaker Robert Rivas California Governor

Where's a good place to hike on a warm summer day? ☀️ Check out Madrone Canyon!

Madrone Canyon is the perfect location for those who want to beat the heat on Mount Diablo. The trail is well shaded and requires low exertion; it's a great kid-friendly way to enjoy nature!

Distance: Two miles
Elevation change: 385 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Hiking time: One hour
Trail surface: Dirt fire road
Trailhead location: Lower Rock City parking lot

Note: The trail does have poison oak along sections of it. Long pants are recommended.

Photos: Scott Hein

The City of Dublin is considering putting a measure on the ballot for this November that could annex the southern end of Doolan Canyon, the beautiful Crosby property between Fallon Road and Airway Boulevard.

A concern of ours is that Dublin wants to also build commercial and industrial uses all along the road, eliminating the open space buffer between Dublin and Livermore. If passed, this measure would bust the 10-year-old Urban Limit Line for commercial development on the greenbelt between Dublin and Livermore.

The Dublin City Council will consider the Urban Limit Line ballot measure in July.

Learn more on our blog. We'll post the link in the comments below.

On average, kids spend four to seven minutes a day on unstructured outdoor play despite the immense benefits that it can bring.

We’re working to change this, and get kids connected with nature by hosting field trips for youth of various ages on our protected lands.

This month we hosted four field trips for middle and high schoolers, bringing 73 kids outside to help care for trees and enjoy the local wildlife on an educational hike.

Every educational program that we host teaches students about Mount Diablo’s flora and fauna, climate change, the history of local indigenous people, watershed ecology, and sustainable ranching.

📸: Haley Sutton and Mary Nagle

“Land really is the best art.” —Andy Warhol

📸: The Ginochio-Schwendel Ranch | Mary Nagle

Did you know that bald eagles live in the Diablo Range?

We spotted them during our 2024 BioBlitz; this one was photographed by our Land Programs Director, Sean Burke, near the San Antonio Valley Ecological Reserve.

Beyond their symbolic importance to our nation, there are many reasons that these birds are great!

🦅 People don't use the term "eagle eyes" for nothing. Bald eagles can spot their prey from up to two miles away!

🦅 Bald eagles can dive at speeds of up to 100 mph!

🦅 They often return to the same nests year after year, building onto them every year. Some of these nests can get massive, weighing up to 2,000 pounds!

🦅 They can live 30 years (or more) in the wild.

Next time you're exploring the Diablo Range, keep an eye out for these iconic birds.

📸: Sean Burke

“Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.” —President Theodore Roosevelt

Happy Independence Day! 🦅

We've reached 87 percent of our mid-year fundraising goal. Help us reach the finish line so that we can continue to protect our priceless open spaces. Make a gift today!

savemountdiablo.org/donate

📸: Stephen Joseph Fine Art Photography

PARK CLOSURE (July 2) - Due to extreme fire danger, created by a combination of winds, low relative humidity, high temperatures, and dryness of the vegetation, the park is closed until further notice.
This closure applies to all visitors including hikers, bicyclists, equestrians, campers, and vehicles.
Fire danger levels are checked daily. We will post a notice here when conditions improve enough for the park to reopen

Help us care for our habitat restoration sites!

We've put hundreds of plants in the ground this season, and we need your help to ensure that they thrive through the summer.

Please join us for our upcoming Diablo Restoration Team work day later this month. 🌎🌱

🗓️: Thursday, July 18
🕓: 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Please RSVP on our website or on Eventbrite if you are able to attend so that we know to expect you.

📸: Haley Sutton

On Wednesday, June 12, on a 5-2 vote, a majority of the Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted to destroy Los Medanos Ridge.

LAFCO (the Local Agency Formation Commission) is a little-known but powerful body. One of their chief functions is to decide city boundary changes. They’re meant to balance development, and agricultural and open space protection.

In this case, they failed in their duty.

LAFCO approved annexation (addition to the Pittsburg city limits) of the Discovery Builders (a Seeno company) square-mile Faria project.

This decision was made over the objections of Save Mount Diablo and thousands of area residents.

They failed to include meaningful conditions to “Save the Ridge” as Save Mount Diablo and thousands of area residents requested. County Supervisor Federal Glover, a LAFCO Commissioner, failed to protect his own city.

The Seeno development family has been controversial for years, and controls the majority of vacant land and development around Pittsburg.

Over the course of several years, we had formally expressed concerns about the negative scenic and biological impacts of the project.

Faria is an annexation of more than 600 acres of county land to Pittsburg to build 1,500 houses.

The houses would be on top of the scenic hills between Concord and Pittsburg, and on top of and next to the new Thurgood Marshall Regional Park in Concord.

Hundreds of Pittsburg residents have contacted each one of the Pittsburg City Council configurations that approved Faria to express their opposition of the project.

Read our full statement on this disastrous decision as well as the comments given by Seth Adams, Save Mount Diablo's Land Conservation Director, at the June 12 LAFCO hearing on our website.

Photo by Cooper Ogden

Today is the last day to support us on Target Circle! 🎯❤️

Vote for us on their website and help direct their giving to support our work today!

Note: If you don't see us as an option, change your zip code to 95242 (Lodi), and it should show up.

For full program details and restrictions, visit the Target Circle website: https://www.target.com/l/target-circle/-/N-pzno9

📸: Stephen Joseph Fine Art Photography

“When we hear [the crane’s] call we hear no mere bird. We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution. He is the symbol of our untamable past, of that incredible sweep of millennia which underlies and conditions the daily affairs of birds and men.” —Aldo Leopold

📸: Eric Riddle

We're helping feed monarchs like this one by planting California milkweed (Asclepias californica) and narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) on the lands we own. 🦋

According to the IUCN, the migratory monarch butterfly population has shrunk by up to 72 percent over the last decade, with the western monarch population being at the greatest risk for extinction.

Planting native milkweeds to support the monarch's declining population is more important than ever. If you want to help, join one of our volunteer workdays, and if you live more than five miles from the coast, plant some native milkweeds in your yard.

📸: Haley Sutton

Skip the Black Friday crowds this year and !

The East Bay Regional Park District has made today Green Friday, so all entrance fees are waived at our regional parks. It's a great way to enjoy the day after Thanksgiving with family and friends at no cost!

📸: Scott Hein

Job opportunity alert!

Would you like to help California State Parks acquire more land?

The Chief of the Office of Acquisition and Real Property Services is responsible for planning, evaluating, and implementing the department's land acquisition and disposal programs and for providing real property policy, oversight, and services for the California State Parks system.

This is an important position for the advancement of California's 30x30 goal and for the growth of the California State Parks system.

Consider applying if you're qualified, and spread the word about this big opportunity!

https://ow.ly/acVo50Q5iKs

📸: Scott Hein