The Peninsula Open Space Trust purchased 2,284 acres of ranchland in southern Santa Clara County for $23 million, the organization announced Jan. 29. The acquisition brings POST’s total holdings at the former Sargent Ranch property to 6,114 acres and preserves sacred native land that had been considered for a sand and gravel mining operation.
The property is located southwest of Gilroy between U.S. 101 and the Santa Cruz County line. POST has acquired the land incrementally since October 2024, investing $63.7 million total. Another 480 acres are under contract for purchase in late 2026.
“Taken together, the acreage and the funds invested make this the largest land conservation purchase in POST’s nearly 50-year history,” said POST president Gordon Clark in a press release. “It represents decades of efforts on the part of many conservation and cultural organizations, funders and donors from across the region.”
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, which has campaigned against the Sargent Ranch mining project since 2016, considers the area sacred. The tribe refers to the location as Juristac, meaning “Place of the Big Head” in the Mutsun language. Tribal members conducted ceremonies there for thousands of years before being displaced in the late 1800s.
“The protection of Juristac honors our ancestors and brings hope for a brighter tomorrow when we can return to our sacred grounds and restore our traditions,” said Ed Ketchum, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
The property provides wildlife connectivity between the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gabilan Range and Diablo Range, allowing wide-ranging mammals such as mountain lions and badgers to move between territories in search of mates.
The land is also home to wetlands and waterways that provide habitat for federally threatened species including California red-legged frogs, California tiger salamanders and steelhead trout. The hillsides support golden eagles and northern harriers.
“A purchase of this size, in a location as important as this, is extremely rare,” said Marian Vernon, POST’s wildlife linkages program manager. “I am thrilled that POST was able to make this happen since this land provides much to humans, too, including helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band began opposing the Sargent Ranch Quarry project in 2016. Their advocacy included a petition which gathered more than 29,000 signatures opposing the development, and the city councils of seven local cities passed unanimous resolutions against the mine.
The colonial Spanish claimed the land for Mission San Juan Bautista in the early 1800s. After the mission’s secularization in 1835, Mutsun people returned to form settlements, but the land was soon granted to settlers during the Mexican and American periods, and tribal members were subsequently forced out.
James P. Sargent, a Gold Rush-era pioneer, purchased the property in the mid-1800s, which developed into a small town along the Southern Pacific Railroad line until its eventual decline and abandonment in the 1940s. Since then, the land has been operated as a private cattle ranch until Sargent Ranch Partners LLC proposed the mining operation.
Valley Water’s Safe Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program contributed $3.95 million to the latest purchase. The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County provided $1 million. POST plans to raise remaining funds from donors.
POST will work with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Santa Clara County Parks and local habitat agencies to develop stewardship plans. The tribe plans to conduct ceremonies and reintroduce traditional land management practices on the property.
“We, the first people, can now forge a path forward where we will be reunited with places we only know through family stories,” Ketchum said. “It’s been over 150 years since a traditional dance was held at Juristac, and we look forward to holding dances there in the future.”
