Article Launched: 09/30/2008 08:00:00 PM
PDT
The vote by the Gavilan College board of trustees to approve the
construction of a 10,000-student campus in the heart of Coyote Valley will
permanently destroy a key wildlife corridor in the region. Most troubling is
the failure of the college leadership and consultants to use a sound scientific
approach to evaluating the environmental impact. In this case, sound science
shows their assessment was wrong.
The De Anza College wildlife corridor stewardship team of students
and instructors has been studying wildlife movement across Coyote Valley. Over
18 months, using field wildlife tracking techniques and observation, infrared
cameras and GPS units, the team verified movement by mountain lions, bobcats,
coyotes, badgers, deer and other animals. More than 165 bird species, including
bald eagles and 16 other species of raptors, were identified.
A "core" area of this wildlife corridor is the 55 acres
that Gavilan plans for development. The increased traffic on Bailey Avenue,
Santa Teresa Boulevard and Monterey Highway in South San Jose will be
devastating to wildlife movement.
The
corridor has valuable riparian habitat, seasonal wetlands and native plants and
is a vital watershed. Coyote Valley is a rare ecological reserve and critical
wildlife corridor for many species between the Diablo Range and the Santa Cruz
Mountains. Thousands of people experience Coyote Valley firsthand through
hiking, biking, birdwatching and wildlife tracking.
Environmental reports, produced by the Gavilan Joint Community
College District's consultants, were based on little, if any, scientific data
collection and only a minimal literature review. This document violates the
rigor and standards established for science, just like the now-repudiated
Coyote Valley planning process. Trustees should be embarrassed by the lack of
scientific rigor.
One- or two-day surveys are inadequate. H.T. Harvey, consultants
for Gavilan, acknowledged that our data demonstrate wildlife is utilizing this
corridor but stated the project would not impact wildlife.
Gavilan proposes installing animal crossing signs. One million
animals a day are killed on public roads — even those posted with signs.
Because the final environmental review did not adequately consider
De Anza's scientific findings, the college must recirculate the document for
more review. Our data, from thousands of hours of research, has provided
significant new information about this site.
Gavilan neglected to contact key agencies including the Santa
Clara County Water District, Bay Area Air Quality District, U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game.
Gavilan has extensive athletic facilities on its main campus. In
building another campus at the extreme northern edge of its district, Gavilan
would create a new version of urban sprawl — "college sprawl."
We asked the trustees to consider an alternate plan at the
existing Gavilan campus within their existing footprint and surrounding areas
or find a site with less environmental impact.
Colleges must be held to the highest standard. Building a campus
in a well-documented wildlife corridor does not honor the community college
mandate to "contribute to and inform our local community."
Julie Phillips is the Morgan family chair in
environmental studies at De Anza College’s Environmental Studies Department and
head of the college’s wildlife corridor stewardship team. She wrote this article
for the Mercury News.
Article Launched: 10/02/2008 08:00:00 PM
PDT
On Sept. 9, the Gavilan College Board of Trustees accepted an
Environmental Impact Report for a future community college campus in Coyote
Valley. Despite the fears of De Anza College faculty member Julie Phillips, we
believe that a college is both needed and appropriate at this location, and
will enhance rather than harm Coyote Valley.
Some history is in order. The state's 110 community colleges are
governed through college districts with locally elected trustees. Many
districts contain more than one college campus, such as Foothill/De Anza, San
Jose/Evergreen, and West Valley/Mission. The Gavilan Joint Community College
District, which runs from Bernal road in San Jose through San Benito County, an
area of over 2,700 square miles, has been served by a single community college
for almost 90 years. During that time, the district's population has grown
rapidly.
In the mid-1990s, satellite centers were opened in Morgan Hill and
Hollister. In 2004, district voters passed Measure E with provisions to acquire
land for future college campuses in San Benito County and the greater Morgan
Hill area, which includes Coyote Valley. If the city of San Jose does
eventually develop Coyote Valley, the need for a community college campus will
increase; however, the campus will be needed whether Coyote Valley is developed
or not.
In
selecting a location, the college is required by the state to use CEQA (the
California Environmental Quality Act) as the standard in determining the impact
on the environment and the activities necessary to mitigate the identified
impacts. The Environmental Studies Group at De Anza College has documented a
wildlife corridor through which animals and birds — most of which are not on
the protected or endangered lists — travel across Coyote Valley. The college
district does not dispute the existence of this corridor, or the presence of
many species of plants and animals. The district does believe, however, that a
wildlife corridor and a college can coexist.
Coyote Valley encompasses 6,000 acres. The 55-acre parcel Gavilan
College intends to acquire is less than 1 percent of the corridor's area. As
evidenced by the long existence of IBM across the street, it is possible to
operate within this area without harming the wildlife corridor. College
campuses do not have to be densely packed, paved, urban areas. The main campus
of Butte College, for example, is a designated wildlife preserve. (Certainly a
college will be easier for animals to traverse than Highway 101 and Monterey
Road, which already divide the Coyote Valley wildlife corridor.)
The Gavilan College campus in Gilroy is known throughout the state
for its park-like setting with ponds, waterfalls, native stands of oak, and
rolling hillside. The campus is home to mountain lions, deer, hawks, wild
turkeys, barn swallows, lizards, ducks, turtles, and numerous other species of
wildlife. The Coyote Valley campus can also be designed to complement and
protect the natural environment.
The site, located across Bailey Road from IBM, is an
environmentally wise choice. Students who would otherwise drive north to
colleges in Silicon Valley or south to Gilroy will have a much shorter commute.
There is already public transportation at Santa Teresa Boulevard and Bailey
Road (bus route 68) making the campus accessible to students in south San Jose
and South County.
The college development process is a long one. Measure E provides
only for the purchase of land. Campus development will occur over a period of
20 to 30 years. This land acquisition will secure opportunities for affordable
college education, close to home, for future generations in South County.
Steven M. Kinsella is president of Gavilan
College and superintendent of the Gavilan Joint Community College District. He
wrote this article for the Mercury News. To read the Gavilan College Coyote
Valley environmental impact report: www.gavilan.edu/bond.