Diablo Watch
Newsletter for friends and supporters of Save Mount Diablo
California Leads the Way
Proposition 4 Passes! California Voters Approve the Largest Climate Bond Ever
Diablo Watch
SPRING / SUMMER 2025 Number 79
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Felton, President
Doug Matthew, Treasurer
Giselle Jurkanin, VP & Secretary
Keith Alley
Steve Balling
John Gallagher
Liz Harvey Roberts
Claudia Hein
Scott Hein
Jerome Holland
Maga Kisriev
Shirley Langlois
Bob Marx
Amara Morrison
Phil O’Loane
Robert Phelps
Malcolm Sproul
Achilleus Tiu
STAFF
Ted Clement, Executive Director
Seth Adams, Land Conservation Director
Sean Burke, Land Programs Director
Karen Ferriere, Development Director
Monica Oei, Finance & Administration Director
Tuesday Bentley, Accounting & Administrative Associate
Steven dePaschalis, Land Use Advocate
Venanzio Favalora and Alyxa Ray, Caretakers
Juan Pablo Galván Martínez, Senior Land Use Manager
Shannon Grover, Sr. Development Associate & Event Manager
Dana Halpin, Administrative Assistant
Brit Hutchinson, Event & Communications Coordinator
Samantha Kading, Assistant Development Director
Morvarid Keymanesh, Staff Accountant
Laura Kindsvater, Senior Communications Manager
Queenie Li, Database Coordinator
Katie Lopez, Staff Accountant & Office Administrator
Roxana Lucero, Land Stewardship Manager
Mary Nagle, Communications Associate
Kendra Smith, Education & Outreach Coordinator
Haley Sutton , Land Stewardship Associate
Cecilia Zefeldt, Executive Assistant
Dear Supporters,
From the Executive Director
Edward Sortwell Clement, Jr. Executive Director, Save Mount Diablo
I am writing this letter the morning after our annual State of the Mountain Address event on January 30th, so I have themes from that robustly positive event running through my head. We write pieces for Diablo Watch well in advance of it being published.
The big story shared with a full house last night was how our talented and actively strategic team (made up of our staff, Board, and supporters) helped Save Mount Diablo enjoy more great and growing successes (with land acquisition, education, advocacy, fundraising, stewardship, etc.) in 2024. This is something our great team has been doing consistently for several years now, and we have immense gratitude for all who are helping make our growing successes possible. The State of the Mountain Address also covered how our wonderful team comes into 2025 with great momentum and exciting plans.
There was another important theme shared with our supporters last night. These are challenging times. Being part of good community and spending time in nature builds resiliency so we are better equipped to take care of ourselves, others, and the natural world we are part of. The Save Mount Diablo community is good and caring. We are thankful you are part of it. Please stay connected with us, especially during these times, by attending our events and offerings, many of which are in nature, where you can connect with other wonderful people like you who are helping us protect our beautiful Mount Diablo and its Diablo Range that sustains us. Spending time in nature heals, and so does being part of a good community and team like we have!
In terms of the healing power of nature, I go out for quiet time in the mountains, usually three to five times a week. I love a good alpine start in the dark sauntering through the transition as the darkness fades with the growing light. I call this sunrise sauntering. It is a core part of my spiritual practice that has sustained me for years. It involves walking meditation/mindfulness, carefully observing nature, giving thanks, and praying in nature.
I am deeply grateful to you for being part of our special community, which is doing amazing work protecting our local natural world that nourishes us.
With Gratitude,
PROPOSITION 4
The Biggest State Climate Investment Ever
Major benefits for the Diablo Range and California
By Seth Adams
In the past two years, two ballot campaigns we worked on have won: the statewide Proposition 4 climate bond, and the San Benito Measure A growth control measure.
CALIFORNIA PROP. 4 , the $10 billion climate bond, is the most consequential for Save Mount Diablo’s work, with 59.8 percent of the state voting YES. Wildfire, wildlife habitat, drinking water, and clean air are all included in the measure.
More than a third of the bond— over $3 billion—will fund parks, open space, and wildlife programs. As much as 100,000 acres in the Diablo Range could get protected in the next few years as a direct result of our work and much larger areas across California. (Of course, we’ll still need to raise option and matching funds and stewardship dollars to qualify for grants for many of the acquisitions to come.) Will the Diablo region see any
of this money? Absolutely! For the first time ever, the Diablo Range was included as a geographic area in a state bond—with up to $80 million dedicated to the greater Diablo Range through a “San Andreas Corridor/ Inner Coast Range” program referring to the famous geological fault line that runs through a good part of the Diablo Range. This money will be used to protect and restore wildlife habitat and corridors in our area.
Another $25 million was included for Coyote Valley, the critical linkage across Highway 101 from the Diablo Range to the Santa Cruz mountains, where mountain lions are already experiencing inbreeding. With better connectivity, the Diablo Range’s 3.5
million acres and much bigger populations of various wildlife species will enhance the genetics of those in other areas in every direction.
California leads in addressing climate and biodiversity crises
Large areas all over California could also be protected, getting us much closer to protecting 30 percent of the state by 2030. Regardless of what happens at the federal level, California—the fifth largest economy in the world—will continue to lead in addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. Prop. 4 is the biggest voterapproved climate investment ever.
Save Mount Diablo played a direct role in what was included in Prop. 4,
and making sure that it passed. For the first time a year ago, we contracted with a Sacramento lobbying firm to gain more influence with state legislation. You remember the old saying, “You’re either at the table or you’re on the menu”? Climate bond negotiations were continuing, and we wanted to play a role. We were expanding into the entire 12-county Diablo Range and into the districts of a much larger number of members of the California Assembly and Senate, and US Congress. We needed to educate them about Diablo Range issues. And we were working in Sacramento to break the logjam on state park acquisitions. We made many trips to Sacramento this past year.
The climate bond legislation was being developed from two directions and was cut down from an early effort
that was much larger in scale. In the Assembly, Eduardo Garcia was negotiating a very detailed set of individual funding priorities with hundreds of line items. In the Senate, Ben Allen was leading an effort for much less detailed legislation with broad categories. Our lobbyist helped get in detailed language for the first-ever Diablo Range funding. But then the Senate bill with broad categories became the controlling one—the administration and various state departments prefer fewer restrictions on their choices.
As negotiations took place on combining the two efforts, most of the detailed line items were removed from the language. Ours survived, as did the one for Coyote Valley, in part because of our lobbying efforts and others, including some of the biggest likely funders of the campaign in
favor. The Nature Conservancy was very interested in funding specifically for their San Andreas linkage project, most of which is Diablo Range. The Peninsula Open Space Trust was very supportive of Coyote Valley.
Ultimately, Prop. 4 was approved by the Assembly and the Senate. It was signed by the Governor. And it was placed on the November ballot. Save Mount Diablo was a modest part of the funding for the $12 million campaign and was part of the campaign committees.
The bottom line
On November 5, 2024, California voters approved Prop. 4. Your investment helped us to contract with a lobbying firm to participate in the campaign. The result was multiplied into millions of dollars for the Diablo Range. •
A Bay Area Conservation Victory!
Save Mount Diablo purchases the 98-acre Ginochio Schwendel Ranch
By Mary Nagle
Save Mount Diablo is delighted to announce that we closed escrow on the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch in March.
WITH THIS PURCHASE , we are permanently protecting this 98-acre property along the Marsh Creek wildlife corridor between Clayton and Brentwood.
We are incredibly thankful to the Ginochio family for their partnership with us, to the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) for providing significant funding to the project, to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, to the many generous individual donors who helped make the acquisition possible, and to Joan Morris for supporting the purchase in her newspaper columns.
With the help of the Wildlife Conservation Board
On February 26, the California Wildlife Conservation Board approved a $728,000 grant toward the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch acquisition project,
covering about half of the $1.455 million total project cost, in the first grant that Save Mount Diablo has ever received from them.
The Wildlife Conservation Board is a state grant-making agency dedicated to safeguarding California’s spectacular biological diversity and wild spaces for the benefit of present and future generations.
The Wildlife Conservation Board will be managing the new “San Andreas Corridor” program. The program includes $80 million advocated for by Save Mount Diablo as part of the bond funding approved by voters in November 2024 through statewide Proposition 4. It will protect land in the Inner Coast Ranges along the San Andreas fault, an area including the 200-mile Diablo Range.
Nurturing a long-term partnership
Save Mount Diablo bought the Schwendel Ranch from the Ginochio family, one of the most significant
landowning families in Contra Costa County. The family owns nearly 7,000 acres on and around Mount Diablo, including some of Save Mount Diablo’s top conservation priorities.
The Ginochio family has lived in Contra Costa County since 1867. Save Mount Diablo’s relationship with the Ginochio family goes back decades.
Beginning in the 1980s, Save Mount Diablo worked with John Ginochio to stop the proposed “Diablo Foothills Freeway,” which would have cut through Diablo Foothills Regional Park near Castle Rock, Shell Ridge Open Space, Mount Diablo State Park, and the Ginochio family’s land.
Since then, John Ginochio and other Ginochio family members have been major conservation partners to Save Mount Diablo, supporting our work in numerous ways, such as practicing conservation grazing on several of our properties.
Protecting the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch deepens Save Mount Diablo’s relationship with the Ginochio family and opens up the possibility of additional collaborative projects on and around Mount Diablo.
The Ginochio Schwendel Ranch is special
As a strategic piece of the Marsh Creek watershed containing rare volcanic habitat, the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch has high conservation value.
The property is adjacent to our Marsh Creek 5 property, a 7.4-acre site that includes an undercrossing of Marsh Creek Road for wildlife and a segment of Marsh Creek, Contra Costa County’s second longest and most undisturbed creek. It’s also near several other of our Marsh Creek properties.
Marsh Creek is a vital wildlife corridor in an arid region. We have been working for decades to protect more of this riparian habitat, which stretches through eastern Contra Costa County, connecting Mount Diablo to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.
To date, properties including 15 miles of the 33-mile creek have been protected by Save Mount Diablo and our partners.
The unusual volcanic geologic formations found on the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch support numerous rare and endemic native plants. These formations can be easily seen as steep mushroom-like domes that are made up of high-silica igneous rock, resisting erosion more than the softer sedimentary rock surrounding them, which has worn away to reveal them.
Not only are these volcanic domes rare locally, but as they break down to mineral soils, they retain water more than surrounding areas; this helps them better support a different array of rare plants and wildlife.
Deep gratitude to the community who made this purchase possible
We’re very thankful to Joan Morris, who encouraged the readers of her columns in the East Bay Times and The Mercury News to make gifts toward the protection of the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch. Many of her readers donated to help preserve this property.
Almost a year and a half ago, Joan Morris also helped us raise enough money to protect the Krane Pond property. Now, she and her readers are continuing to support our work, and for that we are truly grateful.
Heartfelt thanks to our community of supporters who made the acquisition of the Ginochio Schwendel Ranch possible. •
-Lot 25
-Young Canyon
-Krane Pond
-Concord Mt. Diablo Tr. Ride**
-Oak Hill Lane
-Anderson Ranch
-Marsh Creek 4
-Marsh Creek 6
-Marsh Creek 2**
-Marsh Creek 5
-Marsh Creek 8
-Marsh Creek 7
-Marsh Creek 1
-Wright Canyon
-Rideau**
-Smith Canyon
-Curry Canyon Ranch
-The Balcerzak Inholding
-Conservation E Easement
Sources: Esri, USGS, NOAA
Marsh Creek
San Benito Slow-Growth Grand Slam
Measure A gives power to voters
By Seth Adams
PROTECT SAN BENITO’S growthcontrol Measure A has won with 55 percent YES—with Save Mount Diablo’s help. Measure A gives county voters a big say in attempts to change land use designations.
The local paper is calling it a “slow growth grand slam”—San Benito County Measure A, Hollister mayor, and Hollister City Council. This is a game changer. It’s probably the most important land use accomplishment in San Benito history.
San Benito is the county south of San Jose and is the single biggest piece of the 12-county Diablo Range. It includes just 68,000 residents and two cities—Hollister and the historic mission town San Juan Bautista. It’s 50 percent larger than Contra Costa or Alameda. It includes Pinnacles National Park and part of 250,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land that we hope to better protect. To slow growth, you need to constrain the county and the two cities, where we believe we’ll need future Urban Limit Lines.
We got to know the incredible grassroots organization Protect San Benito in 2022 when we heard about their similar effort, Measure Q. They were in the middle of the election campaign when we contacted them. Our initial $10,000 donation made us one of their biggest donors.
The developer opponents created a look-alike campaign committee and a campaign lie that Measure Q would cause all the development impacts it would actually have solved. They outspent Protect San Benito and voters were confused. Unfortunately, Measure Q failed 44 percent to 56 percent in 2022.
Protect San Benito immediately began organizing for 2024, this time with Save Mount Diablo’s full support. Our theory was simple: Move 6 percent from “NO” to “YES.” Help them be competitive financially. Start the education process early with more publications and five videos about the issues. And share our campaign expertise month after month. Protect San Benito volunteers put in two or three times as much effort. The developers did their expected dirty tricks. The public was educated enough that this time the vote was 55.2 percent YES to 44.8 percent NO. Our theory worked. We won!
There’s more progress with three slow-growth winners on the Hollister City Council including the defeat of the mayor. Hollister includes two-thirds of the residents in the county and now has a four-to-one slow-growth majority. A slow-growth county Board of Supervisors took office in January.
Of course, the vote hadn’t even taken place before development interests and their elected officials were trying
to undermine the result. Protect San Benito defended against several county attempts before and after the election to make significant land-use changes.
In Hollister, the outgoing pro-growth city council in their last city council meeting approved a new General Plan that included the first steps for more development on 3,000 acres—about five square miles.
Before they could catch their breath from the Measure A campaign, Protect San Benito and its allies were qualifying a referendum to overturn the Hollister General Plan approval, during the holidays, again with Save Mount Diablo’s help. They turned in signatures on January 20. The city council could adopt the referendum or place it on the ballot. Good news: On March 3, the Hollister City Council voted unanimously to uphold Protect San Benito’s referendum and rescind the terrible 2040 General Plan, which threatened 3,000 acres.
The Prop. 4 climate bond and San Benito County Measure A are amazing accomplishments.
We should be very proud. Thank you for your support. •
ABOVE: Community members turning in signatures to reverse the former Hollister City Council’s decision to approve more development on 3,000 acres—about five square miles.
San Benito County has the largest geographic extent of any of the 12 counties in the Diablo Range. Growth in recent years has been rapid, open spaces are vast but mostly privately owned, and protected lands are few and far between, with the exception of some famous examples, such as Pinnacles National Park.
Mountain Star Awards
At Save Mount Diablo’s annual “State of the Mountain” event on January 30, our Board President, Jim Felton, announced two Mountain Star Awards. We honored Audible Mount Diablo filmmaker Joan Hamilton (left top center) and grassroots organization Protect San Benito.
Joan Hamilton received the Mountain Star Award for her collection of audio and film work documenting the natural history, people, and conservation issues in the Diablo Range, including this past year’s full-length movie about the Diablo Range, Fire, Drought, Rain and Hope, as well as five short videos about San Benito County and in support of Protect San Benito’s Measure A last fall. You can access them for free at audiblemountdiablo.com.
Congratulations, Joan.
Protect San Benito (left below) was also awarded for their successful Measure A campaign to require voter approval before converting open space in their fastgrowing county and in recognition of more than a decade’s work defending San Benito County. Congratulations, Protect San Benito.
TOP LEFT: Save Mount Diablo Board President Jim Felton, Audible Mount Diablo Producer Joan Hamilton, and Save Mount Diablo Executive Director Ted Clement.
BOTTOM LEFT: Jim Felton; Protect San Benito advocates Fallon Greig, Sarahi Andrade, Mary Hsia-Coron, and Ramon Mentor; and Ted Clement.
Continuing Defense of Dublin’s Doolan Canyon Greenbelt
The only open space between Dublin and Livermore
By Juan Pablo Galván Martínez
OUR NO ON MEASURE II campaign last fall in Dublin fell short of victory by a small margin. And so the only remaining open space between Dublin and Livermore, the Doolan Canyon greenbelt, remains threatened.
Measure II means Dublin is still trying to break its east-side Urban Limit Line that we helped create in 2014, to build commercial facilities alongside the proposed Dublin Boulevard extension.
Although we are very proud of the campaign we ran, and we are disappointed in losing, overall, we are encouraged with the result. Despite a very deceptive ballot measure title and misleading statements from the proponents of Measure II, the vote hinged on a small 3 percent margin. Many voters were tricked into voting yes.
It is fortunate that when we were preparing our campaign, we also filed a lawsuit challenging the Dublin City Council’s decision to put Measure II on the ballot without any environmental review. That environmental review is required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Measure II specifically referenced “limited commercial development” in the area between Dublin and Livermore. That means there’s a project being proposed. And under CEQA, the
agency approving development cannot delay environmental review until later when steps are being taken that are necessary to build a project with environmental impacts. It was therefore illegal for the Dublin City Council to put Measure II on the ballot without any environmental review whatsoever.
We are hopeful that our ongoing CEQA lawsuit will result in the courts overturning the misguided action of a slim three-to-two majority of the Dublin City Council. Dublin taxpayers’ money has been wasted on a fatally flawed ballot measure.
Of the three Dublin City Council members who voted to put Measure II on the ballot, one is no longer on the council. That means that a current
majority of the council did not vote to put the it on the ballot. It is possible that a majority of the new council won’t want to take further steps to approve Measure II.
Because we were always open to allowing the Dublin Boulevard extension to be built, and we only opposed the commercial development that the former Dublin City Council chose to associate with it, maybe the opponents of Measure II and the City of Dublin can come to an agreement.
Our lawsuit and engagement with the new Dublin City Council will play out over the next year. We’ll keep you informed about how things develop, and continue our defense of open space and sound land use policy. •
Saving “ValleyDragons”
Blunt-nosed leopard lizards
By Emily Sherwood
“VALLEY DRAGONS” HAVE VANISHED from 85 percent of their San Joaquin Desert habitat—in the Diablo Range, Carrizo Plain, and southwestern San Joaquin Valley. These endangered desert reptiles are officially known as blunt-nosed leopard lizards (Gambelia sila), and though they were some of the first species to be covered by the Endangered Species Act in 1967, the number of “Valley Dragons” has continued to shrink.
Thankfully, a recovery plan and an emergency breeding project at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo have come to the rescue.
Save Mount Diablo has been helping with a $5,240 grant from our Mary Bowerman Science and Research program to cover the cost of a custom weather station, which is aiding research into the lizards’ needs.
In 2020, when it looked like several of the Panoche populations might vanish, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo sent a collection team to bring in lizards from the dwindling population, focusing on a group that was genetically distinct and considered particularly high risk.
Conservationists were especially concerned about how quickly this population might expire, seeing as the blunt-nosed leopard lizard has a very short lifespan in the wild—about two or three years on average.
They were lucky to retrieve seven lizards, with which the Fresno Chaffee Zoo established a captive breeding program.
Four years later, that program is responsible for hatching more than 150 lizards, 17 of which the zoo released
back into the wild in 2023. The zoo released another 20 lizards into the wild in 2024.
To assist in the reintroduction process for released lizards, the zoo equips the “Valley Dragons” with radio telemetry backpacks, specifically designed and tested to be worn in the wild.
These backpacks connect to an automated radio telemetry system and send out pings to help track their progress. At 894 hectares of coverage, this telemetry system was the largest in the world when it was created, which earned the Fresno Chaffee Zoo the North American Conservation Award.
However, many environmental variables aren’t tracked by the backpacks. The program needed a new weather station to track temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and more.
Thanks to the grant from Save Mount Diablo, the new weather station was installed in the Panoche region last November. Not only does the weather station have the capacity to track the aforementioned factors, but it also tracks crucial factors specific to bluntnosed leopard lizards, like solar radiation, soil temperature, and soil moisture.
“We’ve helped with lots of rare wildlife projects, from reintroducing peregrine falcons to Mount Diablo to aiding the California condor program at Pinnacles,” said Seth Adams, Save Mount Diablo’s Land Conservation Director.
“This is another step south in our Diablo Range expansion, with new partners in a new geography. I can’t wait, and I’m so excited to maybe witness young leopard lizards bred at the zoo being released this spring.”
Read more about our blunt-nosed leopard lizard partnership with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo at: bit.ly/lizardpartnership (below left).
And check out conservation biologist Joseph Belli’s companion piece about the blunt-nosed leopard lizard at: bit.ly/leopardlizard (below right). •
“Valley Dragon” sporting a backpack to track its movements after being released into the wild.
Fantastic Flights of Kestrels: Our Smallest Falcons
Creating and protecting nesting habitats to boost American kestrel populations
By Sean Burke
We are excited to see that our efforts to support the expansion of American kestrel populations in the Mount Diablo area have been fruitful.
FOR MANY YEARS, Save Mount Diablo volunteers and staff members have been installing and maintaining nest boxes around the mountain, and it’s great to see that many of these have been utilized as nesting habitats for North America’s smallest falcon.
Kestrels are cavity nesters, they don’t typically build large stick nests or incubate eggs on rock scrapes, like eagles and peregrines. Instead, they find hollows in trees and at times buildings to lay their eggs and raise their clutch of young. Populations of these fantastic raptors have been on the decline for more than 50 years in North America, and much of that
decline can be attributed to habitat loss, like the removal of large trees with cavities, because of development.
Building and installing nest boxes is an easy way to create nesting habitat for these birds, and promote population increases, and the cool thing is, they seem to like these boxes.
There are 37 nest boxes that we’ve installed around the mountain, and of the seven that we monitor closely, each of those boxes have fledged four to five young birds annually for the past five years. This is exciting news! It shows that protecting and creating nesting habitats directly around the mountain is helpful in boosting populations,
Each of the kestrel nest boxes that we’ve monitored has fledged four or five young birds annually for the past five years. That’s excellent news!
clearly linking the success of our conservation efforts and the importance of a positive interaction between human beings and open spaces.
How do we know that the nest boxes have been so successful?
Well, many years ago Brian Smith of The Kestrel Campaign and I installed game cameras on numerous boxes that had shown themselves to be productive. Over the years we have included more cameras on successful boxes so we can observe behaviors, prey delivery diversity, prey delivery rates of both parents, and when birds fledge.
The wildlife cameras allow us to gather data without being intrusive and causing stress to these wonderful birds while they are incubating and growing. At the end of the nesting season, we gather memory cards and start crunching through the tens of
“Building and installing nest boxes is an easy way to create nesting habitat for these birds, and promote population increases, and the cool thing is, they seem to like these boxes.”
thousands of images that have been collected during the season.
This year, we will be installing an additional 12 cameras on 12 boxes that have not been monitored as closely, to understand more about how kestrels are using nesting habitat on a larger scale around the mountain. This will bring the total number of boxes we observe to 19. This is in part because in fall of 2024 we received a grant from the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development to explore our observations further, potentially affecting the future of project planning for the whole county.
We hope to discover more American kestrel populations increasing around the mountain, through these expanded monitoring efforts.
Stay tuned! •
If you would like to learn more about installing kestrel boxes at your home or surrounding open space, please reach out to Sean Burke at sburke@ savemountdiablo.org.
A kestrel brings a king snake (!) to feed its young.
Kestrel eyas inside a nest box.
Seven Miles of Trails Opened in Three Years
By Mary Nagle
SAVE MOUNT DIABLO IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE that we’ve officially opened 1.7 miles of publicly accessible trails through the upper portion of Curry Canyon Ranch, connecting more trails to Knobcone Point Road. The two new trails were opened to the public in November.
Now that these new trails are completed, Save Mount Diablo has opened a total of more than seven miles of trails in the past three years.
People can enjoy 3.17 miles at our signature Curry Canyon Ranch property and more than four miles at our Mangini Ranch Educational Preserve. In 2023, we unveiled the longanticipated trail connection through Mount Diablo’s Knobcone Point area, connecting Balancing Rock to Riggs Canyon. It was the first time in nearly a century that this area was legally open to the public.
Directly connected to Mount Diablo State Park, these trails open up several new loops for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians to get out and explore. They can now experience the incredible solitude, expansive vistas, and potential for wildlife encounters that can only be found on the southeastern side of the mountain.
There are multiple loops available to build off of the original trail system that we opened up in March of 2023. One could travel from Curry Point to Oyster Point, back up Riggs Canyon, and through the Knobcone Point area and down to Curry Canyon Road. Another option could be to travel
from Curry Point to Knobcone Point, following Knobcone Point Trail to Curry Canyon Road and back to Curry Point, about 7.5 miles and 1,300 feet of elevation gain.
A third option is to start at Curry Point, travel to Knobcone Point, follow Knobcone Point Trail to Curry Cave Trail, go along Grizzly Bear Road, drop into Curry Canyon, and journey on up the road back to Curry Point. This route is a six-mile loop, with 1,300 feet of elevation gain.
Visitors now also have the option to travel from Curry Point to Finley Road and back via several long, challenging, and visually stunning loops.
Our stewardship staff members have removed old gates and installed new and additional gates, along with informational signage at the entrances to the trails. Additionally, staff and volunteers have pruned tree branches and shrubs and removed dead trees along the new trails to decrease fire risk, increase visibility, and make the new trails safer. These new trails help make Mount Diablo’s wildest and most rugged areas more safely accessible and enjoyable for the public.
Curry Canyon Ranch is a highly biodiverse area that harbors distinctive habitats, including knobcone pine forests and a mile of rocky cliffs. As they travel through this picturesque area, hikers and bikers can enjoy sweeping views of Mount Diablo’s
peaks and the Sacramento Valley.
Opening these new trails also helps Mount Diablo State Park staff better access and manage the areas surrounding Curry Canyon Ranch, such as Riggs Canyon.
This project has been over a decade in the making, since Save Mount Diablo acquired the 1,080-acre Curry Canyon Ranch property in 2013.
Thank you to our outstanding staff, volunteers, and supporters who made this possible. •
For more details on the newly opened trails on Curry Canyon Ranch, please visit bit.ly/ccrtrails.
PHOTOGRAPHY: SEAN BURKE, ROXANA LUCERO. MAP: ROXANA LUCERO
A Year of Exploration
SAVE MOUNT DIABLO INVITES YOU
to embrace the outdoors in 2025 with Discover Diablo, an expanded series of 38 guided outings featuring new and exciting activities like stargazing, Branching Out Adventures, and wildlife photography. Whether you’re a seasoned hiker or a curious beginner, there’s something for everyone in the breathtaking Diablo Range.
Explore unique destinations
The Discover Diablo series offers access to some of the East Bay’s premier hiking and natural areas, including locations rarely open to the public. These free events include a variety of activities:
• Themed walks such as bird watching and tarantula hikes
• Outdoor recreation like mountain biking and rock climbing
By
• Creative pursuits including plein air painting and nature photography
• Relaxation-focused experiences like meditation and forest bathing
Exciting new events for 2025
This year’s program has introduced several new outings designed to broaden horizons and foster community:
• Photography hike at Pinnacles National Park, where participants captured the stunning landscape and searched for the majestic California condors
• Stargazing night in partnership with the Mount Diablo Astronomical Society
• LGBTQIA+ hike with Branching Out Adventures, creating an inclusive space for outdoor exploration
• Condor hike at Pinnacles National Park with biologist, condor expert, and writer Joseph Belli
In addition, 2025 will feature trail dedications celebrating new connections opened in late 2024 on Curry Canyon Ranch, making many miles of trails more accessible through Mount Diablo State Park.
Building connections to nature
Launched in 2017, the Discover Diablo program connects communities to the natural beauty and ecological significance of the Mount Diablo area. Events take place on Save Mount Diablo’s conserved properties and nearby parklands, including Mount Diablo State Park and East Bay Regional Park District, Walnut Creek Open Space, Contra Costa Water District, Stanislaus County Parks, and National Park Service lands. •
Save Mount Diablo
Free Public Hikes & Outings
Kendra Smith
Mary Bowerman Colloquium
Supporting ecological research up and down the Diablo Range By
Mary Nagle
LAST DECEMBER, we held our annual Dr. Mary Bowerman Science and Research colloquium at the David Brower Center in Berkeley.
An audience of more than 100 people learned about eight fascinating ecological research projects that Save Mount Diablo supported up and down the Diablo Range. These eight projects were presented by scientists, from undergraduate and graduate students to ecologists with decades of experience.
Our colloquium shines a light on some of the latest research on California condors, newly discovered species of centipedes, extraordinary behavior from western pond turtles, and what can be found in freshwater rock pools—a fascinating yet understudied Diablo Range habitat.
Multiple researchers utilized photography to capture rarely seen and awe-inspiring wildlife behavior.
The findings featured in these presentations make a big impact; this information is used to inform land use advocacy and management in the Diablo Range.
Use bit.ly/diablo-science or scan the QR code below to watch these incredible presentations on YouTube! •
Seven Projects in Two Days
126 heroic volunteers give 848 hours to Mount Diablo!
By Haley Sutton
EVERY FALL, VOLUNTEERS GATHER for Save Mount Diablo’s largest volunteer stewardship event: the annual Pine Canyon Cleanup! The Pine Canyon Cleanup started as a graffiti removal project at the beloved climbing crag and rock scrambling spot located in Pine Canyon five years ago.
Since then, the cleanup has evolved into an extravaganza of projects to give back to Mount Diablo, and engages all trail users. At our 2024 Pine Canyon Cleanup, 126 volunteers completed 848 hours of work across seven projects in two days!
On the first day of the event, volunteers joined three different projects.
• Debris cleanup at the Balcerzak inholding, where volunteers filled a dump trailer to the brim with material to be disposed of off-site,
•Brushing and pruning along theKnobcone Point Road Trail at Curry Canyon Ranch to increase trail accessibility, and
• Trail maintenance and repair to improve tread along the Castle Rock Trail in Mount Diablo State Park.
The next day, volunteers chipped the pruned biomass material along Knobcone Point Road, worked on nearly one mile of the Little Yosemite Trail in Mount Diablo State Park, and removed invasive weeds and litter from Diablo Foothills Regional Park to improve wildlife habitat.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, with special thanks for our partners: California State Parks, the East Bay Regional Park District, the Bay Area Climbers Coalition, the American Alpine Club, and the Mount Diablo Trails Alliance. Join us this fall for our sixth annual Pine Canyon Cleanup event! •
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Diablo Science
We are extremely grateful to our volunteers! Pictured here: the team at the Balcerzak inholding.
Ariane and Gaston Habets
Extraordinary Volunteers and Committed Partners
By Samantha Kading
SAVE MOUNT DIABLO’S conservation efforts have grown in success for more than 50 years thanks to an extraordinary community of generous supporters and committed partners— people like Ariane and Gaston Habets.
Gaston and Ariane have enthusiastically volunteered their time and professional expertise to a variety of Save Mount Diablo and partner projects, from mapping native and invasive plant populations with the stewardship team, to monitoring nest activity with the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association’s Peregrine Team, to restoring habitat on Save Mount Diablo’s conserved properties as Diablo Restoration Team volunteers.
They choose to actively support conservation work because volunteering is a way to channel their love of nature into meaningful, tangible support for a healthy environment.
They’re also inspired by the progressive rewards of conservation and stewardship work, visible each time they return to where they’ve worked, weeded, or watered and can see how nature has continued to develop and evolve in that place.
Being part of Save Mount Diablo’s motivated and knowledgeable community of volunteers and staff is an added bonus for them. As Gaston explains, “We keep coming back to support the cause, but also because of the team.”
Always eager to explore, Gaston and Ariane’s curiosity has led them all over Mount Diablo in pursuit of a personal challenge to hike every trail in Mount Diablo State Park. From the shady summer cover in Madrone Canyon to the sweeping southward vistas from Finley Road, they’ve covered about 80 percent of the park’s available miles
and highlighted their progress on their copy of Save Mount Diablo’s regional trail map.
As participants in Four Days Diablo and other Discover Diablo hikes, Gaston and Ariane share adventure stories and thoughtful observations with their fellow hikers, enriching the Save Mount Diablo community with camaraderie and conversation.
Save Mount Diablo is grateful for partners like Gaston and Ariane who appreciate and support the deliberate, persistent work that successful conservation requires. Much like hiking Mount Diablo’s trails one mile at a time, Save Mount Diablo is continuously working toward its vision of conserving and connecting natural land one parcel at time, with an ambitious and inspiring goal as our guide. •
Find out more about the many ways that you can support Save Mount Diablo’s conservation programs.
Please contact Samantha Kading at skading@savemountdiablo.org or call 925-949-4513.
Ariane and Gaston hiking with Four Days Diablo.
Tributes
TRIBUTE GIFTS and donations made in honor of or in memory of loved ones between July 1 and December 31, 2024 are listed below. Thank you to all of our supporters. Your generosity preserves, defends, and restores the mountain for all of us to enjoy!
Tribute names are indicated in bold. An asterisk (*) denotes donors who make monthly tribute gifts.
In Honor of
Seth Adams
Sharon Walters
Heather Anderson
Kathleen Glasman
Burt Bassler
Elissa Bassler
Carol Baxter
Vernon Koehler & Laura Ellison
Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling, LLC Clients
Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling, LLC
Leon Borowski
Erek Borowski
David Carradine
Tena & John Gallagher
Anushka Chandrashekar
Vrishank Chandrashekar
Casey S. Corman
Bob Corman
Tom DeJonghe
Rashmi & Rajiv Dixit
Joyce Hawkins
James Marchetti
Huyen Do
Jay & Jasmin Mumford
Marcia & Greg Eiler
Michele Blank
Gabrielle Fawcett
Carol Gegner
Paula Rathert
Mike & BobAnn Welden
Jim & Bette Felton
Diana Felton & Mike Wallerstein
David & Betty Gibson
Carrie Stengel
David Frane
Erin McConachie
Peter Frazier
Joey & Bill Judge
Brian Gagnon
Moira McCabe
Cynthia Green
Kevin Green
Jeff & Jae Greenwald
Margaret Greenwald
Engelien Gregory
Tineke & Torsten Jacobsen
Elizabeth Hayslohrey
Alana McBrayer
Scott & Claudia Hein
Jane & Michael Larkin
Al Johnson
Emily DiGiovanni
Margaret Kruse
Sandra Woliver
Kate Kunnes
Annamarie & Alan Louie
The Lackey Family
Kim Lackey
Paul & Deborah Larsen
Richard Larsen
Darrell Littlefield
Steven Raymond
Roxana Lucero
Rosemary Lee
Christina Madlener
Alana McBrayer
Bunny Martin
Alana McBrayer
Thomas “Papoo” Moore
Anna Moore
Gail & Jim Murray
Dixie & Mike Mohan
Dan Navarro
Meghan Navarro
Christopher Oakes
Bridget Dobbins
Peregrine Team, MDIA.org
Anastasia & Randall Hobbet
Kathy Rapmund
Alana McBrayer
Laurie Reich
Carol & Bob Lowitz
Hazel J. Sasser
David Ogden & Sandy Biagi
Kristen Scheller
Kathy Husen
Alan C. Shelton
Rebecca Shelton
Wilmetta Silva
James Serventi
Jeff Simons
Cynthia Taylor
Kendra Smith
Robert Smith
Ron Smith
William Barber
Bob Fagundes
Joe Karg
Barbara Musante
Elizabeth Strohl
Casey & Malcolm Sproul
Scott & Claudia Hein
Anna & Abby Stark
Jeanette Hurwitz
Brian C. Stumpp
Frederick Stumpp*
Haley Sutton
Rosemary Lee
Jennifer Willen & Stephen Sutton
David Theis
Jacqueline & Paul Royce
Jeanne Thomas
Douglas & Barbara Jones
Rosemary Thompson
Josie & John Fike
Lynn & Tom Trowbridge
John Barton
Jill Tyler
Stephen Tyler
Ken-ichi Ueda
Akemi Ueda
Jerry Weintraub
Daniel & Adrian Blumberg
Cora Wright
Dennis & Lin Ashlock
Sandra Curtis
Judy Fiset
Barbara Neale
Dawn Theimer
Marilyn Wright
In Memory of
Linda M. Andersson
Bruce Fogel
Hanako O. Andrews
Paul Andrews
Brendon Armstrong
Carol & Brad Hoy
Robert Balcerzak
Laurie Balcerzak
Serena Bardell
Robert Bardell
Jeanne Boyd
GFWC Clayton Valley Woman’s Club
Jeff Howard
Kristin Krueger
Matthew & Michelle MacKenzie
Sonja Wilkin
Dennis J. Butkowski
Sandra Vahl
Eugene Callahan
Marianne Callahan*
Rosemarie Chiavini
Lisa & Mo Dadgar
Janet Haukaas
Celia Palacio
Deborah Wick
Drs. Frances & Gene Coburn
Marje & Stephan Schuetze-Coburn
Frank Colombo
Michael Colombo
Sherrill Cook
Wendy & Matt Raggio
James E. Derda
Sherry Derda
Jack L. Ditzel
Ami Ditzel
Susan Duckworth Tullis
John Tullis
Mardi Duffield
Kristine Caratan
Roger Epperson
Richard Davis & Sandra Jones
Eric Farnholtz
Shirley McPheeters
Anna Louise Ferri
Larry Ferri*
Steve Fielding
Sue Fielding
Ruth & Larry Fontes
Jerry Fontes
James Henry Frey
Kenneth Frey
Patti Garcia
Michael Garcia
Joseph & Betty Goldstein
Janine Alden
James “Doc” Hale
Sheila & Jon Harman
James Hale Culbert
Kathryn Martinsen
Jean Hamilton
Rachel Shelton
Jean P. Hauser
Barbara Hauser
Earl Hughes
Don & Ann Hughes
Toby T. Johnson
Donald & Carole Johnson
Angel Khorsandi
Vickye Harvey
Bob Koupal
Broadcom
Jon Rosner
Daniel Kruse
Margaret Kruse
Bonnie Kruse Malloy
Margaret Kruse
Byron Lambie
Jill Lambie
Lew May
Patrick & Susan May
Martin E. Milanese
Suzanne Milanese
Carol Mintz
Leigh Mintz
Janet Montes
Terry & Glenn Gonzalez*
Joe & Carol Moran
Mike Moran
Henry Nigro
Lucinda Henderson-Nigro
Darlene Parr
Eileen Mitchell
Ellen Jeanne Peterson-Brandel
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Malcolm & Casey Sproul
Richard & Jan Stephenson
Keith Rea
Harry & Rosanna Borg
Harriet Lee
Kathy Rea
Leslie Salonen
James Rease
Richard Davis & Sandra Jones
Wayne Roderick
Steven Raymond
Kate Sanders Steffy
Lesya Westerman
Randall Sexton
John Tullis
Marjorie Silbert
Richard Silbert
Marvin G. Smith
Linda Beth Schilling
Fred Stanke Walter
Suzanne & Conrad Figueroa
Harry W. Stewart
Kathy & Ed Hartman
Christopher Klapheke
John Stimson
Joan Kunz
Vivian Sweigart
Terry & Glenn Gonzalez*
Frieda Thorndike
Carol & Bob Lowitz
Harvey R. Wall
Dan Levine
Ronald Lee Webb
Kathy & Randy Erickson
Robin Wilby
Nick Wilby*
We have made every effort to accurately spell names. If your name or donation has not been recorded correctly or was mistakenly omitted, we offer our apologies. Please contact us so that we can amend our records by sending an email to Queenie Li, Database Coordinator, at qli@savemountdiablo.org.
Save the Date! Saturday, September 6, 2025 4:00–10:00 PM
Join us for an unforgettable evening at our annual Moonlight on the Mountain gala!
This dramatic outdoor event transports 500 guests up the mountain’s slopes to China Wall, where they are treated to an elegant three-course meal, live music, dancing beneath the stars, and both live and silent cocktail auctions—all while surrounded by the unparalleled, majestic views Mount Diablo has to offer.
This extraordinary fundraising event supports our critical conservation programs and benefits our work to preserve, defend, restore, educate, and enjoy Diablo’s wild lands.
For more information, and to inquire about event sponsorships, please visit bit.ly/moonmtn.