July 14, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan McCauley, 650-772-3644, rmccauley@openspace.org
Midpen Open Space Awarded Nearly $2 Million to Advance Wildfire Resilience, Wildlife Habitat Improvements and Regional Trails
Los Altos, CA — The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) has secured nearly $2 million in three newly awarded grants. These funds will support projects in Midpen preserves focused on wildland fire resilience, habitat restoration for rare wildlife and the construction of the Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossing Project.
“Together, these three grants leverage Midpen’s public funding and will substantially support our wildfire preparedness and habitat connectivity at a regional landscape scale,” said Midpen General Manager Ana Ruiz.
Creating Wildland Fire Resilience ($741,450)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $741,450 to Midpen’s Wildland Fire Resiliency Program, which reduces wildland fire severity in the region in part by managing vegetation in the preserves with a focus on ecological health and resilience.
Midpen will use the funds towards on-the-ground vegetation management projects in strategic locations across 167 acres within Windy Hill, Skyline Ridge, Russian Ridge and El Corte de Madera Creek open space preserves. All work will occur within two miles of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), the area where communities and open space meet. Much of the work will occur across steep terrain comprising a mix of redwood forests, oak woodlands and coastal scrub.
Additional work includes maintaining emergency evacuation routes for the Coastside communities of Loma Mar, La Honda and Pescadero. Crews will use manual and mechanical tools to thin dense understory brush and manage non-native annual grasses.
Credit: Vishal Subramanyan
Restoring Critical Chaparral Habitat for the Santa Cruz Kangaroo Rat ($500,000)
The Santa Clara Valley Water District awarded Midpen a $500,000 grant to improve areas of chaparral plant communities within Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. This grant will support Midpen’s Santa Cruz Kangaroo Rat Habitat and Population Management Plan which includes expanding and reconnecting vital habitat for this critically imperiled, endemic species.
Crews will perform selective vegetation management across 40 acres. Fire suppression and natural succession have resulted in dense knobcone pines and thick understory brush encroaching into the preserve's chaparral plant communities, shrinking the sandy, open areas Santa Cruz kangaroo rats require. As a vital keystone species, they bury native seeds like manzanita in shallow caches that protect them from the extreme heat of wildland fires, promoting plant regeneration and maintaining montane chaparral communities.
A recently published genetics study confirms the need for this work, revealing that the Sierra Azul population is one of only two known populations remaining on Earth.
"The findings of the genetics study support the argument that Santa Cruz kangaroo rats should be listed and protected as an endangered species," said Midpen Wildlife Biologist Matt Sharp Chaney, noting their limited numbers, poor genetic diversity and severe threat from habitat fragmentation.
Advancing the Highway 17 Wildlife and Ridge Trail Crossings Project ($750,000)
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission awarded Midpen $750,000 to support the Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossings Project. The grant was awarded through MTC’s Priority Conservation Area Grant Program, a regional pool distributing $8 million across 16 Bay Area projects to advance the environmental, equity and climate resilience goals of Plan Bay Area.
The project, in partnership with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Caltrans, will connect 30,000 acres of protected public lands on either side of Highway 17.
The project includes the construction of a dedicated highway undercrossing designed for large mammals, accompanied by more than two miles of directional wildlife fencing to prevent animals from entering the roadway. Highway 17 is a major wildlife-vehicle collision hotspot, making this roadway the “top priority barrier” to wildlife connectivity in the Bay Area.
For outdoor enthusiasts, the highway blocks trail connectivity and leaves a major gap in the 550-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail. The trail overcrossing, which is envisioned to be accessible to hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and dog-walkers, will link El Sereno Open Space Preserve to the popular Los Gatos Creek Trail and Lexington Reservoir County Park.