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Midpen outlines new trails, prescribed burns and Highway 17 wildlife crossing near Los Gatos
Summary
Midpen Regional Open Space District updated the council on local preserve openings, wildfire-resiliency work including prescribed burns, Measure AA-funded projects and a planned Highway 17 wildlife crossing to reduce mountain-lion mortality.
Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District director for Ward One (Mr. Gleason) updated the Town of Los Gatos council on Sept. 2 about recent additions and projects in preserves that serve the town, emphasizing fire resiliency, trail access and wildlife protections.
Gleason highlighted new trail openings at the Bear Creek Redwoods preserve, expansion and acquisitions in the Sierra Azul preserve (creating a long-term Mount Ominum-to-the-sea trail vision) and regular prescribed-burn work and vegetation treatments to reduce wildfire risk. “As part of that, Midpen last October conducted a 9 acre prescribed burn over in Cherry Springs,” he said, and Midpen plans a significantly larger burn in the same area this year.
He described Measure AA (a 2014 bond) projects in planning, including a proposed large wildlife crossing on Highway 17 near Lexington Reservoir intended to reduce mountain-lion and other wildlife mortality and to improve connectivity to the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The project portfolio also includes trail connections between El Sereno, St. Joseph’s Hill and Sierra Azul; Gleason said the Highway 17 trail overcrossing is in active planning and could advance to construction in the 2027–2028 timeframe but will require complex multi-jurisdictional permitting.
Gleason also raised public-health and ecosystem concerns tied to rodenticide use, noting reports of sick wildlife and encouraging municipalities and retailers to support nonchemical rodent-control alternatives and outreach. He invited the council to use Midpen’s events calendar and volunteer trail programs and offered to follow up on hardware-store outreach to limit rodenticide sales near preserves.
The council thanked Midpen for the update and asked staff to stay engaged on planning for the crossing and prescribed-fire scheduling.
What happens next: Midpen will continue outreach; council asked staff to track Measure AA project schedules and public-notice steps for trail and crossing design and construction.
