The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's purpose is to purchase, permanently protect, and restore lands forming a regional open space greenbelt, preserve unspoiled wilderness, wildlife habitat, watershed, viewshed, and fragile ecosystems, and provide opportunities for low-intensity recreation and environmental education.

Description:
The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's purpose is to purchase, permanently protect, and restore lands forming a regional open space greenbelt, preserve unspoiled wilderness, wildlife habitat, watershed, viewshed, and fragile ecosystems, and provide opportunities for low-intensity recreation and environmental education.

The District works to form a continuous greenbelt of permanently preserved open space by linking its lands with other public parklands. The District also participates in cooperative efforts such as the Bay Trail, Ridge Trail, and Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail, which are regional trail systems in the Bay Area that include District lands.

The District has permanently preserved 50,000 acres of mountainous, foothill, and bayland open space, creating 25 open space preserves (24 of which are open to the public). The District covers an area of 550 square miles and includes 17 cities (Atherton, Cupertino, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Carlos, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, and Woodside).

Funding
The District’s primary revenue source is a share of the annual total property tax collected within the District. This amounts to about 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value, which currently provides $19.1 million in tax revenue (fiscal year 2003-2004). Other revenue sources may include federal and state grants, interest and rental income, donations, land gifts, and note issues. The overall financial health of the District remains strong and stable, and the District remains committed to a precautionary approach in spending.

History:
Our History - The late 1960s was a time of rapid growth in the Bay Area. As tract housing and commercial development began to dominate the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” concern for the preservation of the Midpeninsula’s irreplaceable foothill and bayland natural resources mounted among open space advocates.

Through the determined and heart-felt efforts of local conservationists, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District was created by successfully placing a voter initiative, Measure R, on the ballot in 1972. Measure R’s sentiment is as powerful today as it was more than 30 years ago.

Measure R will preserve open space by creating the Midpeninsula Regional Park District (currently named the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District). Open space is our green backdrop of hills. It is rolling grasslands - cool forests in the Coast Range – orchards and vineyards in the sun. It is the patch of grass between communities where children can run. It is uncluttered baylands where water birds wheel and soar, where blowing cordgrass yields its blessings of oxygen, where the din of urban life gives way to the soft sounds of nature. It is the serene, unbuilt, unspoiled earth that awakens all our senses and makes us whole again … it is room to breathe.
At that time, the District was created in northwestern Santa Clara County. Fulfilling the conservationists’ original dream to include portions of San Mateo County within the District’s boundaries, the voters expanded the District in 1976 to include southern San Mateo County. And in 1992, the District further expanded by annexing a small portion of Santa Cruz County.

Most recently with the final approval of the Coastside Protection Program on September 7, 2004, the District’s boundary was extended to the Pacific Ocean in San Mateo County, from the southern borders of Pacifica to the San Mateo/Santa Cruz County line.

Contact person: Paul McKowan, Volunteer Contact, (phone)
Main office number: (650) 691-1200
Office fax number: (650) 691-0485

Address:

330 Distel Circle Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.openspace.org

Miscellaneous Information

Besides English, which languages are spoken at your agency?
	Spanish, Vietnamese
What is the minimum age for volunteers at your agency?
	14
Is your agency wheelchair accessible?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 10?
	Yes
Does your agency have the capacity to host groups of more than 20?
	No