Bear Creek Redwoods Once Slated for Luxury Homes and Golf Course, Open Space West of Lexington Reservoir Will Be Park Lands for
Silicon Valley
Fall, 1999
POST has taken out a $10 million loan to purchase 805 acres of prized forest lands along Bear Creek Road, completing the purchase of the 1,065-acre former Alma College property in the Los Gatos hills across from Lexington Reservoir. POST is working with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), a public agency, on the purchase. Efforts have been underway for two decades by various groups to protect the property, the only redwood forest in close proximity to urbanized Santa Clara County.
"If there is ever going to be a redwood park for Silicon Valley, this is it." Audrey Rust, President of the Peninsula Open Space Trust, said. "Bear Creek will be a park for our children, and their children, to experience nature the old-fashioned way."
POST's contribution came just days before the purchase option on the threatened land was to expire. Visible to thousands of motorists as they travel Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz, the forested parcel is the largest piece of private property in the Lexington Basin. Its preservation as open space brings to an end development plans for luxury homes and a golf course on the site.
Bear Creek has been a high priority for open space advocates for the last 20 years because of abundant natural resources, wildlife habitats, and public recreational opportunities. Just a 20-minute drive from downtown San Jose, and within 30 minutes of several million people living in the greater South San Francisco Bay area, the land is thick with redwood and oak trees, and home to deer, bobcats, red tail hawks and other wildlife.
"It's with a big gulp that we have signed the loan papers that allow us to bring this dream to reality," POST's Audrey Rust confided. "But there was never a moment of doubt about the need to protect this property. Bear Creek is spectacular, inspiring, and eminently accessible. There is simply nothing like it left in this area."
To complete the deal and preserve Bear Creek as open space, POST has secured a $10 million loan to take title to 805 of the 1,065 acres, comprising the "upper" most heavily forested portions of the property. POST must raise the $10 million to pay the loan through gifts from individuals, foundations, and public grants. The MROSD purchased the "lower" segment for $15 million, and will manage both properties under a lease agreement with POST.
"This property has been of interest to us for quite some time. It's great that POST is willing to bet the farm' on this deal in order to preserve this priceless natural resource," Craig Britton, General Manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), a public agency, said.
MROSD and POST envision the creation of a public redwood park, after an extensive planning process. The property is considered a gateway to the Santa Cruz Mountains parks system, containing approximately 40,000 acres of park land. Protected as open space, the Bear Creek property could provide the connection for a trail system that would link the city to the sea–a distance of more than 50 miles.
Though the area was heavily logged in the late 1800s, the forests are returning to a mature state. Beautiful second growth redwood and Douglas fir forests hug the steep stream canyons. Level grassland hilltops, some that were formerly vineyards, look out across the Santa Clara valley and surrounding rugged canyons, forested hills and the Lexington Reservoir. There are several natural springs, three ponds, and several creeks that drain into the Reservoir.
Bear Creek is also steeped in California and gold rush era history. Captain James Fremont camped on the property in 1846 enroute to initiate the Bear Flag revolt that made California an American territory. His diary describes the virgin forests, which were soon after felled to build San Francisco and San Jose. Stage lines, narrow gauge logging trains and passenger trains passed through or near to the property.