FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 4, 2025
Contacts:
Julie Hutcheson, Executive Director, Green Foothills 3921 E. Bayshore Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94303 info@greenfoothills.org | 650.968.7243 x339
Leigh Ann Gessner, Public Affairs Specialist Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District500 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA 94022 lgessner@openspace.org | 650-772-3638 Photos available upon request
Today, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) and Green Foothills celebrated the dedication of the future Lennie RobertsTrail in Midpen’s Miramontes Ridge Open Space Preserve, adjacent to the Johnston House property near Half Moon Bay. The event brought together community members, public officials and fellow advocates to honor legendary local conservation advocate Lennie Roberts of Ladera.
“Lennie Roberts has helped define what environmental advocacy looks like in our region,” said Julie Hutcheson, Executive Director of Green Foothills. “This trail is a tribute to her vision, passion and relentless commitment to protecting the natural world.”
The trail, now named and soon to be planned and built, recognizes Roberts’ decades of tireless environmental advocacy that have safeguarded tens of thousands of acres of open space in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Roberts has been a longtime staff member at the nonprofit Green Foothills and is considered one of the founders of Midpen, a public agency, which was created when local voters passed Measure R in Santa Clara County in 1972. Roberts played a pivotal role in expanding Midpen’s boundaries over time—from the initial Santa Clara foothills and baylands to include southern San Mateo County in 1976, and then to the San Mateo County coastside in 2004. Her advocacy helped secure the permanent preservation of iconic local landscapes such as Russian Ridge, Purisima Creek Redwoods and Bear Creek Redwoods open space preserves.
Roberts also championed landmark policy efforts such as the California Coastal Act of 1976 and San Mateo County’s Measure A in 1986, which curbed sprawl and safeguarded the rural character of the Coastside. Today, with 47 years as a Green Foothills advocate, Roberts is still an active member of Green Foothills’ staff and an active Midpen supporter.
During today’s celebration, guests heard tributes and thanks from Ana Ruiz, General Manager of Midpen; Julie Hutcheson, Executive Director of Green Foothills; John Giusti of Giusti Farms; Debbie Ruddock, Vice Mayor of Half Moon Bay; Zoe Kirsteen-Tucker, Midpen Board Member; Ray Mueller, representing District 3 on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors; and Walter Moore with Peninsula Open Space Trust. Roberts herself reflected on the decades of community collaboration that have made the Bay Area a national leader in open space preservation.
“Lennie’s extraordinary leadership and passionate commitment have left an indelible mark on our region’s lands and people,” said Ana María Ruiz, General Manager of Midpen. The Lennie Roberts Trail will ensure her legacy inspires generations of conservationists and open space stewards to come.”