A Yes Vote on Measure D Protects Santa Clara County Open Spaces

Picture this: It’s an early morning and you’re climbing the trails at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. Just 25 minutes from downtown San Jose, you’re surprised at how otherworldly it feels. There is no noise from the city, just the trill of a meadowlark, the song of a magpie, or the cry of a red-tailed hawk. Some days, when you’re very lucky, you’ll spot a bald eagle. There is open sky and sweeping views that stretch from Silicon Valley all the way to San Francisco Bay. 

These are our great outdoors and keeping them protected is essential work in Santa Clara County. POST and our partners have played a key role in protecting and restoring landscapes in the South Bay, including Coyote Valley, where we’re working closely with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (the Authority) to ensure a future with clean water, wildlife connectivity, and open space that improves people’s lives.

Mark Your Calendar for June 2

This June 2nd, voters who live in San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, or unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County will see an important measure on their ballots.  They’ll have a chance to help protect places like Coyote Valley with Measure D, the Santa Clara Valley Wildfire Protection, Clean Water, and Open Space Act. 

A yes vote on Measure D means sustained, dedicated funding for the Authority and the critical work they do to protect our region’s natural lands, water, and open spaces. 

What Is Measure D?

Measure D would establish a modest parcel assessment, around two cents per square foot of building area, to generate approximately $17 million a year in dedicated local revenue to fund the Authority’s important work. For the average homeowner, the cost works out to about $32 per year. Exemptions are available for low-income and senior residents. Large commercial parcels contribute more, with a cap of $7,500.

Why This Measure, Why Now

The Authority has helped protect more than 30,000 acres of natural lands, watersheds, wildlife habitat, and farmland across the Santa Clara Valley since 1993. In the past 12 years alone, the acreage the Authority stewards has more than doubled. Its local funding has not.

That gap matters and it’s getting harder to ignore. Rising costs, increased public use of the preserves, and the intensifying pressures of climate change all require sustained investment. The Authority has been remarkably efficient with the resources it has: For every $1 in local funding, it has leveraged $3 more in grants and matching funds. But that model only works with a reliable local base to build on. Measure D provides exactly that.

The Authority manages thousands of acres of open land that directly border communities in Santa Clara County. In January 2025, the Los Angeles wildfires showed how quickly a landscape can change from beautiful to catastrophic. Ripping through canyons and across valleys, the wildfires devastated entire ecosystems and permanently changed communities. That devastation reminded us of what we know to be true: Fire prevention is infrastructure and must be invested in before disaster strikes, not after. Removing hazardous brush, maintaining fire breaks, and restoring healthy landscapes takes ongoing resources. Measure D makes that investment possible.

What the Funding Would Support

Measure D funds would go toward the Authority’s core conservation work, including:

• Removing hazardous brush and reducing catastrophic wildfire risk
• Protecting rivers, creeks, and streams that feed our drinking water supply
• Maintaining and restoring wildlife habitats and wildlife corridors
• Protecting working farms and local food sources
• Keeping natural areas clean and safe for the public
• Preventing the overdevelopment of scenic hillsides and open space
• Building new trails and expanding public access

This Is the Moment

Later is too late. We must act now. The lands that the Authority protects—Coyote Valley, Coyote Ridge, Rancho Cañada del Oro, Sierra Vista—are not guaranteed. The pressures on these landscapes don’t pause. Help insure the vitality of these landscapes now and into the future.

If you live in San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, or unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, Measure D will be on your June 2nd ballot. Vote Yes on Measure D. Then share this post with a neighbor who loves these hills as much as you do.

To get involved or learn more, reach out to [email protected] or sign up to volunteer at tinyurl.com/MeasureDgetinvolved.

Paid for by Yes on D: Peninsula Open Space Trust. Committee Top Funders: Peninsula Open Space Trust, Sempervirens Fund.