About Coyote Valley
Nestled between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range at the southern edge of San José, lies the beautiful Coyote Valley. As our top conservation priority, it encompasses a unique combination of nature’s benefits such as floodplains, local water supply, wildlife connectivity, agriculture, recreation and more.
Coyote Valley is often referred to as a “last chance landscape,” offering a rare opportunity to connect over one million acres of core habitat in the surrounding mountains, creating a “landscape linkage” allowing species to disperse, migrate and shift ranges thus preserving biodiversity and genetically healthy populations. With California’s prolonged droughts and more frequent flooding and wildfires, protecting and restoring Coyote Valley's natural benefits is the smartest long-term investment we can make together for the health and sustainability of our region, especially in the face of a changing climate.
Benefits of Coyote Valley
Water
Coyote Valley is a critical landscape that protects water resources and downstream residents through its natural infrastructure. Since the early 1900s, wetlands, creeks, ponds and groundwater sources in Coyote Valley have been extensively modified by human development. Now that much of Coyote Valley is protected open space, we have an amazing opportunity to restore Coyote Valley’s water resources to improve ecosystem function, flood protection and water supply for the benefit of the entire Santa Clara Valley.
Wildlife
Coyote Valley is a biodiversity hot spot, home to many unique species of wildlife and rare habitats. Coyote Valley is also where the Santa Cruz Mountains and Diablo Range come together, making it one of California’s most important landscape linkages — a place where undeveloped land allows animals and plants to move between 1.13 million acres of core habitat in the mountain ranges and maintain healthy populations.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the primary land use in Coyote Valley today and contributes to Santa Clara County’s $358-million-dollar agricultural economy. With thousands of acres of scenic and productive farms, orchards and ranches, permanent protection of Coyote Valley creates new opportunities to add agricultural uses that create jobs, support the economy, sequester carbon and offer access to healthy local food.
Climate Resilience
Coyote Valley offers an unparalleled opportunity to increase the region’s climate resilience—the ability of natural and human communities to respond and adapt to extreme weather, leading to drought, fire and flooding. Coyote Valley contains thousands of acres that can recharge aquifers, absorb flood waters and capture carbon from the atmosphere.
Recreation and Public Health
Just 15 miles south of downtown San José and accessible via bus, bike, or private vehicle, Coyote Valley is a place where people can easily connect with nature and improve their health and wellbeing. Many parks, preserves and recreation facilities already exist within Coyote Valley. The protection of additional lands offers the opportunity to provide even more access to open space and trails – improving quality of life, benefiting public health and contributing to the local economy.
History of Coyote Valley
Coyote Valley: Our Last Best Chance
A Unique Partnership to Protect Coyote Valley
The Open Space Authority, through an innovative partnership with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and the City of San José, has protected 1,500 acres of open space in North Coyote Valley, creating the North Coyote Valley Conservation Area. As identified in the Coyote Valley Landscape Linkage vision, protection of the North Coyote Valley is a key link in connecting wildlife habitats, providing opportunities to restore natural floodplains and improve water quality, and helping to build a climate resilient future for the residents of the 10th largest city in the nation.
Recognizing the importance of protecting nature for the benefits it provides our communities, this landmark transaction pulled together funding from the Open Space Authority’s Measure Q, San José’s Measure T and POST, with support from multiple local and state agencies to take the first step towards a re-imagined and greener future for Coyote Valley and put an end to sprawl in the Santa Clara Valley.
Together We Can Shape the Future of Coyote Valley
The Open Space Authority has embarked on a public planning process to define the future of Coyote Valley and retore this significant landscape for nature and people, forever.