POST @ IBM: a green partnership in Coyote Valley

October is our Month of Giving at IBM. Among the local charities we are partnering with, it was my pleasure to see us hosting POST, the Peninsula Open Space Trust. And, even more satisfying, seeing IBMers stop by the booth to hear more about the amazing impact this organization have had on the preservation of our green hills and local wildlife for now almost 50 years (see my post about the 40th anniversary in 2017, and that IBM-supported conference along POST and the Ohlone tribe in 2022). IBM also matches donations employees make to POST!

Although I've been supporting POST for 2 decades, I still learned a big deal about their challenges and work thanks to a masterful presentation from their Director of Customer Engagement, Mark Medeiros. While there are many other trusts even in our area, no wonder why POST is regarded as a visionary and leading land trust across the country!

Coyote Valley represents a unique corridor between the two ranges forming our very own Silicon Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Peninsula on the West side, and the Diablo range on the East. Living in a earthquake area, we can also named the corresponding faults: San Andrea and Hayward.

Now, corridor may be a more convoluted word than what it looks. I would have assumed that a straight line along Bailey Avenue for instance would be the easiest way to facilitate back and forth migrations and passage between both ranges. But that would make specialists gaggle as that would be way over simplifying Mother Nature, which likes to follow water sheds in particular. (Credit: illustration from Haley Grunloh, POST page.)

In addition to the water sheds winding through the valley, there are 3 major physical hurdles which have to be considered, a system called the triple barrier. Counter-intuitive is that, thanks to its numerous underpasses, the busy Highway 101 isn't the most challenging of the three but Monterey Highway with its surface concrete divider. Followed by the rail track. (Credit: illustration from Haley Grunloh, POST page.)

There has been decades of work to protect Coyote Valley between the key partners including the City of San Jose, the Santa Clara Country, the Open Space Authority. And POST.

At least we can celebrate and be grateful that the planned expansion of commercial development across Coyote Valley, in the 70s and 80s, turned to a flop and allowed farmers to stay around. Incidentally, as we tease ourselves, that left us, our IBM Silicon Valley Lab campus, in the middle of nowhere!

Here is a selection of great resources to learn more about the challenges and progress on that Coyote Valley matter:

1. https://openspacetrust.org/blog/bay-nature-wildlife-connectivity/
2. https://urbanwildliferesearchproject.org/the-corridor-project/
3. https://conservationcorridor.org/cpb/Santa_Clara_Valley_Open_Space_Authority_2017.pdf (70 pages!)
4. https://protectcoyotevalley.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/CoyoteValley-VitalLandscape-2024.pdf (4 pages, triple barrier problem)
5. https://www.openspaceauthority.org/projects-programs/coyote-valley-master-plan/about-coyote-valley
6. https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/citywide-planning/area-specific-plans/coyote-valley-corridor-study (San Jose urban impact study)
7. https://scv-habitatagency.org/356/Wildlife-Connectivity (Santa Clara Valley & County)

Now, a burning question all IBMers had on their mind: as the decision has been made and publicly announced, to close the renowned Almaden IBM Research Center (ARC), relocating hundreds of eminent researchers to the site on the other side of the hill, Silicon Valley Lab (SVL), on Bailey Avenue, what is going to happen to this landmark site? Will that be an opportunity to transfer this major open area into the local pool of preserved lands? As opposed to selling it for tenths of millions of dollars of income and profit... A challenging dilemma... And a big unknown for non-insiders...

Bottom line, the protection of Coyote Valley, while in progress, will likely take several more decades to set a safe and sustainable corridor for wildlife to reclaim their original passage to roam between the two ranges. POST is close to turn 50 and is the perfect partner to think and act long term to restore nature's rights in and around our buzzing Silicon Valley. A model for the World!

An inspiring evening with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, POST and Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer

For a change, not a race or run report, yet a post which has a lot to do with running. Those who follow my blog regularly might remember my support and high consideration of POST. POST stands for Peninsula Open Space Trust, a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the green capital of the Bay Area by purchasing land before transferring it to local parks (I simplify). The year I started this blog, I posted about the 30th anniversary in 2007 then, the 35th and 40th (and this year marks 45 already!).

The night following Quicksilver 100K (long race report!), IBM was one of the sponsors of an evening with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer both a professor of environmental biology at SUNY and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

I'm really glad IBM got to connect and support POST. I have an office at our Silicon Valley Lab (SVL) which, on Bailey Avenue, is far South of San Jose. When inviting clients to visit our Customer Briefing Center, we sometimes use the expression, in the middle of nowhere. But not any nowhere: besides our pride of having initiated the data revolution with the invention of the hard drive here, we actually are right in the middle of Coyote Valley which is a unique corridor for wildlife to ram between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo range (and miles beyond!). Restoring a safe corridor across this valley which was earmarked by the city of San Jose for office development, is one of POST's highest priorities and dedicated programs. (Important to note that the city of San Jose agreed to revert on these development plans and has committed to a long term and historic preservation collaboration with POST and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority.)

Speaking of the Diablo range, there is a very special trail linking Fremont to Del Valle, the Ohlone Wilderness Trail. Special because it has been the course of the challenging Ohlone 50K since 1987 (36 years minus a few cancellations due to either weather/trail conditions, or a certain pandemic). Special because I ran the race 12 times including 6 overall wins and 4 other podiums (quite a few posts on my blog). Special because I had always felt some unique inspiration and connection with the Ohlone spirit at that race without realizing there were still tribe members in the area. Of course I had seen maps from the past like this one showing the large number of tribes as well as the adjacent Miwok culture, which has a 100K race named after it as well. (Credit: By Noahedits - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83967945). But that just looked like a page of a history book without much existence left today.

I had seen a mention of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in the event invitation and was excited to have an opportunity to learn more about their current status and work toward reclaiming and regaining access to the land so critical to their culture, a cilture which has been so deeply connected to our area, before the colonization, the agricultural development of the Valley of the Heart's Delights, then the industrialization and development of what is known around the world as our Silicon Valley. Little did I realize that half the event was going to focus on this community, what a blessing!

This Muwekma Ohlone tribe was represented that evening by at least three generations. Its Preservation Foundation is 600-strong, down from an estimated 10 to 20,000 when the Spanish missionaries arrived in the area in 1769. They told us about the importance of land to keep their traditions alive, they even spoke to us in their native language. About the challenges of preserving or reviving their traditions in a place which became so overprice and their original land being taken away from them.

Look at this chart presented by Dr. Wall Kimmerer showing how the European wiped the Native Americans from their sacred habitat. When a picture is worth way more than a thousand words... (You figured out that green is the land owned by Indians and the dates are 1775, 1850, 1894 and 1992.)

My notes about Dr. Wall Kimmerer's speech can't make justice to a life dedicated to the sensitive topic of land equality and land justice. Please refer to her books:

• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (with Spanish, Catalan, French and Italian translations available)

• Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Below are a few notes and quotes then, for those who couldn't attend either at the sold-out venue, the Cal Theater of San Jose, or online among more than 2,000 other attendees. I also took a few snapshots from the presentation, see at the bottom of the post. (I had initially included in my post a link to a YouTube recording but it has been made private since.)

• To set the mood and also using some Native American language from the Great Lakes area, Dr. Wall Kimmerer express gratitude, and what we should have gratitude for as well.
• "People are healthy when the land is healthy, not healthy when the land is not healthy."
• To challenge our Western views, she shared the vision which have allowed tribes to live in harmony for so many centuries before Caucasians invaded North America: "Earth is like a single dish, with only one spoon"; not a big spoon for some and small one for others; and everybody shares the same dish; this is the fundamental view leading to land justice.
• Everybody has gifts and responsibilities, we all have. They are 2 sides of the same coin Up to use to create land justice. Gifts can include wealth and money, time, knowledge, caring, or land...
• Our opportunity is to combine indigenous and western sciences. How do we learn from both eyes or optics. Bio diversity + knowledge diversity.
• And a big warning regarding human exceptionalism and white exceptionalism, by failing to recognize and accept the differences. We need to care about all, like birds and people, not one or the other. So more human citizens can live! As well as non-human relatives.
• Reference to the work done by terralingua.org. Notable how highly correlated biodiversity and indigenous life are (biodiversity increasing where indigenous are in charge of the land, or vice versa).
• The critical importance of TEK: Traditional Ecological Knowledge. When high tech meets high TEK! ;-) (See articles like in/from YaleEnvironment360, National Park Service, OxfordAcademic's BioScience)
• There is value in leveraging the Western materialistic and objective lens, as long as it is combined with the other lens.
• Land justice is requiring reciprocity and healing the damage, toward restorative justice (see the #LandBack movement).
• The concepts of Re-story-ation, the importance of ceremony, reciprocal restoration (have you noticed how many National Parks start with the settlers point of view as opposed to the original indigenous history and background; one reason why it's critical to restore original names of lands and places).

Overall, Dr. Wall Kimmerer reminded us that we, too, were going to be the ancestors of the next generations, that all lands become ancestral lands, asking the question: "What kind of ancestors do We want to be?"

The presentation was followed by a round table including the leaders of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe: Charlene Nijmeh, Chairwoman (bio) and Monica Arellano, Vice Chairwoman (bio).

And a moving plea and calls to action to us all:

• Showing support for the Muwekma Ohlone recognition by co-signing this open letter (very straightforward);

• Showing support for the SJR 13 currently on the California Senate floor (easy, just need to create an account to submit to the State Legislature);

• Like the Muwekma page on Facebook (just one click!);

• Financial donations always welcome of course to the Muwekma (GoFundMe) and POST (with IBM matching IBMers' gifts)!

And if any of you have web skills, looks like the muwekma.org website could get some lift; another way to give!
PS: here are a few screen shots, sorry to the parallax; not a fan at all on a flight but next time I need to get a middle seat! ;-)

POST @ 40: what an amazing environmental impact!

We are so blessed in Silicon Valley, I'm not going to say this is paradise on Earth and the best place to live because, first, it's hard to prove, second, it's subjective and third, not everybody can afford living here and we couldn't welcome 7 billion people in the Bay Area anyway! But...

Anyway, one of the major wonders of Silicon Valley is that it created so much wealth from innovation and that several of the richest families living on the Peninsula invested millions toward preserving the hills around the Bay and the Pacific Coast, for future generations to enjoy, before these outdoors succumb to extensive development like it is the case around Los Angeles for instance.

POST stands for Peninsula Open Space Trust and it has been established 40 years ago, in 1977. Basically, it is a private and not-for-profit organization whose mission is to buy property whose preservation is endangered by development or misuse then turn such estate to outdoor preservation organizations such as County, Regional or State Parks. These Parks systems require public consultations, approvals and funding before taking over any new piece of land and that typically takes years. POST is here to fill the gap before developers make their move. Hence the critical role of this organization to preserve our ecosystem.

You can see the extent of the impact POST had had over these 4 decades on this map:

The impressive list of the 101 projects (click on the image to open, zoom and read):

Have a look at key milestones during these 40 years.

And if you think that we are done after so many projects, look at this year's acquisition of a endangered beach, Tunitas Creek Beach, just South of Half Moon Bay, great move!

POST also promotes many activities that everyone, not just ultra runners, can enjoy in these wonderful open space preserves: hiking, walking, running, backpacking, bird watching, you pick how you want to most enjoy life!

In addition to taking advantage of all this protected land for free, you can also support POST's mission by donating. And many companies will actually match your gift, make sure to check that out to double your own impact!

And if you give more than $1,000, you'll be welcomed into the Skyline Society. We actually kicked off the 40-year anniversary milestone celebrations last January with a fascinating talk from Alvaro Jaramillo, an expert birder who made us more aware of some local wonders as well as those he shares in his expeditions (alvarosadventures.com)

With Chuck Wilson and Christine Miller:

Again, if you believe in the protection of the environment and wildlife, if you enjoy the outdoors, please consider supporting POST's mission; the next generations will thank you for this exemplary way to contribute and build a sustainable future!

A few pictures from our nearby Black Mountain and Rhus Ridge areas.