Planning has been underway since the spring of 2010 on the restoration and public access to the summit of Mt. Umunhum, the former Almaden Air Force Station.  Visible for miles and a well-known landmark for area residents, Mt. Umunhum can be spotted by its large, cement radar tower.  It is the third-highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and it is special to the military personnel and families who were stationed there through 1979.  It is also of cultural significance to the Ohlone Indians.   The name comes from an Ohlone word meaning "hummingbird".

Several meetings have been held in the fall of 2010 to inform the public about choices in the restoration of the area and to elicit the most favored plans of the public.  A meeting was held on December 9, 2010, to display the Mt. Umunhum Project Description with additions and to allow public input.  The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board approved this plan and discussed potential environmental impacts of the project.

Materials available at the meeting and a draft diagram of the Mt. Umunhum Environmental Restoration and Public Access Plan are available online as links from the Web site: Mt. Umunhum Cleanup and Restoration .  Take a look there at the Site Overview and the Revised Concept Plan.  The public is invited to review the project and to comment on the plan and environmental restoration description.

The tentative project schedule is listed at the Web site given above.  April 2011 is listed as the general date for release of the environmental documents for review by the public and the Board of Directors.  Public input will be invited for these materials.  Please see the Web site for further information.

The main Web page for the Midpeninsual Regional Open Space District is  Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District