"Mountain View has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into mitigation" for the owls"

This is outrageous. In the mean time, the pension funds for city employees are underfunded because of the promises that past councils made to the government unions. Guess who will be on the hook when the city finances blow up?

Oh, well. There nothing that's more fun than spending other people's money.

Thanks so much to the City of Mountain View for understanding the relationship between the health of the ecosystems of Mountain View and the health of the City and people who live here. Being able to see our Burrowing Owl population grow and thrive is so exciting! Thank you, thank you!

I want to thank city council members Laura Macias, Jac Siegel, Mike Kasperzak, Ronit Bryant, and Margaret Abe Kobe for their continued commitment and leadership in the struggle to preserve our community's natural resources. Mountain View is a leader in our region in creating a landscape where people, animals and businesses thrive. Burrowing Owls are in need of our help, and the City Council has bravely offered its hand. Without efforts like theirs, precious wildlife will be lost for our children to enjoy. Well done!

It is wonderful to see Mountain View taking a leadership role in our region in creating a landscape where people and businesses thrive while protecting natural resources. I hope that other cities around the Bay Area follow this great example.

As a frequent visitor to the Shoreline area I would like to thank Ronit Bryant, Mike Kasperzak, Margaret Abe Koga and Laura Macias, Jac Siegel, for their commitment to the cause of preserving wild life and especially the Owls in the Shoreline area. This also shows that Mountain View and Others can allow development while protecting the local wildlife. Thanks to their dedication there will be wildlife for other ro enjoy in the future along with reasons for people to visit Shoreline and the various businesses in the area.

As a resident of San Mateo, I'm pleased to see the City Council of a neighboring community taking steps to preserve its wildlife. Without land set aside for the burrowing owls and other species, our quality of life will quickly deteriorate. Thank you Mountain View city council members Laura Macias, Jac Siegel, Mike Kasperzak, Ronit Bryant, and Margaret Abe Koga for your caring, commitment and leadership. This is uplifting news!

I attended the council meeting several times when this subject was bought up for study. I am very pleased that the City Council members think that there is room for the Burrowing Owls and other wildlife at Shoreline Park. This is an area that is important for visitors and residents alike to enjoy. The diversity that resides there is important as more and more wild areas are being removed from wildlife use. Thank you City Council for your careing commitment for all to enjoy Shoreline Park.

Thank you Mountain View for continuing to protect Bay Area Burrowing Owls. The city government of Mountain View has shown leadership on this issue for many years, and hopefully will continue to lead the way for other Bay Area communities so our owls will continue to thrive. The present plan is much more sophisticated than previous plans since scientists who have studied the needs of the owls are involved. Hopefully the new prey habitat will allow more owls to thrive in smaller space.

Thank you to Mountain View City councilmen John Inks and Tom Means for the thankless job of trying to maintain fiscal sanity in this city. Regardless of the gushing platitudes about the "environment" Mountain View will not be able to maintain basic services much less frivolity like the burrowing owls boondoggle when it is bankrupt. Ask the people of Vallejo and Stockton about their environment.

Another thing, have any of you greens ever actually seen a burrowing owl? I think these were invented by the watermelons to extract money from Mountain View taxpayers.

BTW, I pass through Shoreline Park often during duck hunting season and I have never seen a burrowing owl.

Response to curious:
The City of Mountain view is required by law to mitigate for development of burrowing owl habitat. Instead of paying hundreds of thousand of dollars to a "mitigation bank" in Alameda County, the City chose to invest the funds in Shoreline at Mountain View.
And yes, there are burrowing owls at Shoreline. There used to be hundreds of owls in the south bay, but as development encroached on their habitat, they became rare. If the plan that the City is implementing is successful you'd be able to see them soon.

Thank you for continuing to value and protect Shoreline Park and its wonderful diversity. I have lived in the area for over 20 years and continue to be amazed every time I get to see the owls. The idea of an observation spot and continued training for existing staff to help ensure the protection and improvement of habitat for the burrowing owls is wonderful news. Thank you all for trying to ensure that the owls survive and hopefully thrive in our area.

I also wanted to mention that the idea of getting more staff at Shoreline would be wonderful....its a shame the welcome entry booth is not opened more often and it would be wonderful if we could have more staff on hand to help not only protect the area, but help educate the public. I am stunned to learn that there are people in our area who seem to be convinced that the owls don't currently even exist in our area.....a frightening thought because so much damage is sometimes done because of ignorance. I thank you again for your continued efforts to protect our environment and your time and work to try to get more trained biologist/ecologists/scientists/educators on board.

"The City of Mountain view is required by law to mitigate for development of burrowing owl habitat. Instead of paying hundreds of thousand of dollars to a "mitigation bank" in Alameda County, the City chose to invest the funds in Shoreline at Mountain View. "

And this is supposed to make me feel better exactly how?? So instead of paying one extortionist, the taxpayers get to waste their money on futile efforts for a creature with as much reality for most of us as a susquatch or a leprechaun.

And by the way, the big spending city council are not heroes. All they are doing is pandering to the soft-headed voters. The heroes, if any, are the taxpayers who are forced to pay their hard earned money for this nonsense.

If the city council wanted to do something real for the Shoreline park environment, they would hire some hunters to kill of the geese that are infesting the park and covering every surface with their excrement.

Heck they would not even have to hire anyone. They would just have to get a cheap plastic trophy and present it to the hunter that kills the most geese. People would come from miles around. After a while, the geese would get the idea and leave and revert to their natural state.

Mary Alice wrote: "I also wanted to mention that the idea of getting more staff at Shoreline would be wonderful.."

That does sound like a wonderful idea. Can we count on you for an annual contribution to pay the salary of one of these worthy naturalists?

I would love to have a jacket that had a print of a burrowing owl on it and said in nice italic "Support Burrowing Owls and Naturalists, Shoreline Park, Mountain View, California."

I support the goals of the 2012 Burrowing Owl Preservation Plan. The habitat, population, and preserve goals and action items are based on the recommendations of biologists who have expertise in the behavior and needs of this important species. I would like to thank the Council for its attention to the importance of preserving the burrowing owl habitat and I support the allocation of public funds to implement the plan. I would like to recognize the hard work of city employees in their thoughtful preparation of this plan. The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society has also provided considerable expertise and community building activities in support of conservation of the owls.

Congratulations to the city council members of Mountain View for taking a leadership position on conservation. You are leaving something for future generations to enjoy.

I'm a long-time Mountain View resident and also a birder. Shoreline Park is hugely popular with people from all over the Peninsula. For some people, it's the hike and bike trails, for others it's the sailing lake or the golf course. For me (and others) it's the wildlife, and I'm very happy that my city council is willing to preserve and enhance habitat for Shoreline's wildlife.

Mountain View residents should be proud to find room and a little money for another species of animal like the Burrowing Owl that has become very rare elsewhere in the county, even in Palo Alto that has spent so much money on trying to keep the earth green in places. After all we are animals too, so let's continue to try to save the special ones that are becoming endangered because most of money available does have to go to maintaining the humans who live in this county. Many thanks to the Mountain View City Council members who voted to preserve this very special animal that is barely hanging on in this county!