Diablo Watch Magazine

These are challenging times, but Save Mount Diablo is still celebrating major victories for nature. Last year, we won two ballot campaigns; we helped pass the $10 billion California climate bond, Prop. 4, and pass Measure A in San Benito County, which will slow growth by giving voters a say on land use decisions in the county. This March, Save Mount Diablo purchased the 98-acre Ginochio Schwendel Ranch, which lies along the Marsh Creek wildlife corridor. Save Mount Diablo is supporting research on wildlife up and down the Diablo Range, and has unveiled new trails, which open up land that was closed to the public for nearly a century.

This is a critical moment for conservation. On November 5, California voters will have the chance to vote YES on the single largest publicly funded climate investment in state history—Prop. 4. As Save Mount Diablo expands our work to cover the whole Diablo Range, we’re focusing on San Benito County, a region of natural beauty and biodiversity—the heart of the Diablo Range. This year for our 2024 BioBlitzes, we traveled throughout the Diablo Range, cataloging wildlife and rare plants in remote areas. California condor, mountain lion, and tule elk were among the 837 species recorded this year. Read about all this, and more, in our 78th edition of the Diablo Watch.

What if we told you another 20,000 acres of the Diablo Range could be protected in the next 18 months? We’re expanding the scope of our work; our advocacy will now cover the whole Diablo Range. Our acquisition focus is still on the area north of Corral Hollow to Mount Diablo, but we are now open to land gifts, conservation easements, and other interests to the southern Santa Clara Country line and Pacheco Pass Area. Recently, a flock of condors soared through the Diablo Range and paid Mount Diablo a visit, the first in 100 years. We’re protecting more land, such as the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch, to help wildlife like this thrive on Mount Diablo.

In August, Save Mount Diablo acquired one of the last inholdings within Mount Diablo State Park, the Balcerzak inholding. Save Mount Diablo also exercised the option to protect Krane Pond, a major water source within Mount Diablo’s “Missing Mile” of unprotected land. Now, Save Mount Diablo is kicking off a campaign to expand Mount Diablo State Park; for years we have been stepping in to protect threatened properties that should be part of the state park, such as the Viera–North Peak property. And thanks to our Adler Education Fund, we’re now piloting a new curriculum for third to fifth graders.

After wrapping up a historically successful year, Save Mount Diablo continued the momentum with a major victory in Concord: Seeno and their partners were dropped as Master Developer of the huge Concord Reuse Project. Save Mount Diablo has been working to raise funding to permanently protect Krane Pond, one of the largest water sources on Mount Diablo’s north side. Protecting the Krane Pond property protects more of Mount Diablo. At the end of March, Save Mount Diablo opened the Knob cone Point Road Trail in Curry Canyon, which connects the entire southern trail system on and around Mount Diablo. All this and more was completed while we continued to research and address the impacts of climate change on our land.