The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Former mayor brings new vision to trail
By Cody Kraatz
Yahoo workers jog by, huffing and sweating, on their lunch breaks, lizards bask in the sun and ducks splash around in canals. With the exception of antennae, pipes from a nearby water recycling plant and broken up concrete on a nearby levee, the scene is serene.
"I love walking and I love hiking. It's so beautiful out here. You go out here and you're in total peace and quiet with nature," says Julia Miller, a former Sunnyvale city councilwoman and two-time mayor. "It's a legacy for generations to come."
Miller recently donated a bench and wildlife viewing telescope to the San Francisco Bay Trail in Sunnyvale.
She says the completion of the trail through the northern tip of the city was one of her biggest goals during her time on the council from 1997 to 2005.
"I feel like I accomplished something during my time on the city council and I kept my campaign promise."
Miller donated about $5,000 for the materials, and Jim Kuehne, a Sunnyvale contractor, donated the labor to install the bench and telescope on a cement pad.
Miller, a bay trail board member, is working to close a gap in the trail behind Moffett Field, where she says an Air National Guard munitions bunker and federal jurisdiction present challenges.
"We're using as much clout as we possibly can," she says. The trail board apparently has some, including Bill Lockyer, currently the state treasurer and a longtime advocate for the trail.
With hundreds of miles already completed, the trail is intended to stretch 500 miles around the bay and requires a lot of regional cooperation. While the Association of Bay Area Governments started the project, the Santa Clara Valley Water District funds many trail projects in the South Bay and cities and counties help build and maintain trails.
The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with cities, manages the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which has sections stretching from Bair Island in Redwood City to Coyote Creek in San Jose and back up to Fremont. The California Coastal Conservancy, the water district and others are working to restore 15,000 acres of South Bay salt ponds bought recently and open them for public use. About 3.8 million Santa Clara County residents use portions of the bay trail, according to a 2005 report.
The trail is already well used, say Sunnyvale parks and recreation representatives.
"A lot of times I've been out here at lunch time just going for a walk, and I'll see dozens and dozens of employees from tech companies out here walking and jogging," said David Lewis, director of parks and recreation.
To learn more about San Francisco Bay trails and refuges, visit baytrail.abag.ca.gov, www.fws.gov/desfbay or www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov.
