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UID:Indybay-18819467
SEQUENCE:18964293
CREATED:20181130T090100Z
DESCRIPTION:Join us for an evening to learn about What’s at Stake for Sargent 
 Ranch/Juristac. Covering 6,500 acres of hills, wetlands, creeks and 
 meadows, this area is home to numerous habitats and native species. 
 Valentin Lopez, Chair of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, will speak about the 
 historical, spiritual and cultural importance of Juristac. Legislative 
 Advocacy Director Alice Kaufman will speak about the sand and gravel quarry 
 that’s proposed for the Juristac site, including the environmental 
 concerns, the timeline and how you can help with our advocacy.\n\nPlease 
 RSVP Here: 
 https://www.greenfoothills.org/event/whats-at-stake-sargent-ranch-juristac/?instance_id=919\n\n\nThe 
 Importance of Sargent Ranch\n\nThe Amah Mutsun Tribal Band know it as 
 Juristac, a sacred place where healing ceremonies and dances took place for 
 centuries. The public knows it as Sargent Ranch, 6,500 acres of nearly 
 pristine open space at the tail end of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the 
 foothills slope down towards the broad agricultural fields south of Gilroy. 
 To the Debt Acquisition Company of America (DACA), the property’s owner, 
 it is a potential sand and gravel quarry.\n\nCommittee for Green Foothills 
 has a decades-long history of fighting for Sargent Ranch, and our 
 commitment to preserving this culturally and ecologically unique site has 
 not wavered. The land includes serpentine grasslands, oak savannah, 
 sycamore riparian woodlands, and a unique natural tar spring. It’s home 
 to threatened and endangered species such as steelhead trout, California 
 red-legged frogs, and California tiger salamanders. Sargent Ranch is also a 
 critical wildlife route, linking the Santa Cruz Mountains with the Diablo 
 Range to the east and the Gabilan Range to the south. Together with Coyote 
 Valley, 25 miles to the north, it is the only viable path for wildlife to 
 migrate into and out of the Santa Cruz Mountains.\n\nThe native Amah Mutsun 
 ceremonies here were often attended by other tribal groups in the region. 
 Juristac’s nearly pristine state, amidst so many irreparably altered Amah 
 Mutsun living and gathering places, makes it practically unique in its 
 importance and in the urgency of its preservation.\n\nCommittee for Green 
 Foothills has opposed Sargent Ranch development proposals since 1993, 
 including a plan to build four “villages” of over 12,000 residents, a 
 proposal for two golf courses, and a luxury residential development. Along 
 with other environmental groups, we have fought to stop the urban 
 development floodgates from opening on Santa Clara County ranchlands. 
 Several years later, the owner of Sargent Ranch declared bankruptcy, and 
 the land was acquired by creditors, including DACA.\n\nNewest Threat: A 
 Quarry Proposal\n\nDACA has applied for a permit to operate a sand and 
 gravel quarry on Sargent Ranch. The proposed quarry would cover over 300 
 acres of hillsides and grasslands and excavate about 40 million tons of 
 sand and gravel over its 30-year life. Where there are currently grassy 
 hillsides and oak savannah, there would instead be 200-foot-deep quarry 
 pits, a 14-acre processing plant, piles of “waste” rocks and dirt, a 
 1.6-mile-long conveyor belt to transport the quarried material, new roads 
 for trucks, and a bridge over Tar Springs Creek. Operators would pump about 
 86,000 gallons of groundwater every day to work the processing plant and 
 control quarry dust. The noise, lights, roads, fences, and disruption of 
 the landscape could negatively affect wildlife migration, and erosion and 
 runoff from quarry operations, roads, and waste piles could contaminate 
 both Sargent Creek and Tar Springs Creek.\n\nIn addition to the likely 
 environmental damage, the potential for cultural damage for the Amah Mutsun 
 is unparalleled. Destruction of this ancient landscape is a disruption of 
 the spiritual integrity of the land, something impossible to quantify or 
 mitigate. It should be unthinkable to destroy even a small portion of an 
 Amah Mutsun sacred site for any reason, let alone in order to obtain and 
 process sand and gravel, easily available at other sites.\n\nConservation 
 and land trust organizations have expressed interest in acquiring and 
 preserving Sargent Ranch. However, DACA has refused to sell the property, 
 preferring to pursue the proposed quarry operation. Committee for Green 
 Foothills continues to work with partners to achieve open space protection 
 for the entire 6,500-acre property.\n\nWhat We Are Doing and How You Can 
 Help\n\nSanta Clara County is expected to release the Draft Environmental 
 Impact Report (DEIR) on the Sargent Ranch quarry proposal soon. Committee 
 for Green Foothills will submit comments on the DEIR and work to bring the 
 importance of this issue to the attention of county decisionmakers. Please 
 help us by signing up for our email notifications, so that you’ll know 
 when you can submit comments to the County or attend meetings to show 
 support for preserving this unique landscape.\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/11/30/18819467.php
SUMMARY:What’s at Stake for Sargent Ranch/Juristac
LOCATION:Morgan Hill Community & Cultural Center\n17000 Monterey St, Morgan Hill
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/11/30/18819467.php
DTSTART:20181205T023000Z
DTEND:20181205T043000Z
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