""It's classic California," said Gordon Clark, president of the Peninsula Open Space Trust. "Beautiful rolling hills, iconic oaks, creeks, wetlands and dramatic vistas. A stunning landscape that feels like you are stepping back in time. It's very gratifying. This has been a goal that so many people have shared for so long.""
""I'm so elated," said Ed Ketchum, chairman of the Amah Mutsun, a group of roughly 600 people who trace their ancestry back to Ohlone villages in the area they call "Juristac." "From when I was a child, the elders would always say this is a special place that needs to be protected. It was meant not to be developed.""
Peninsula Open Space Trust purchased 2,284 acres of Sargent Ranch for $23.04 million, protecting one of Santa Clara County's largest remaining undeveloped private properties. The acquisition preserves habitat for mountain lions, bald eagles and steelhead trout and ends plans for a proposed 403-acre open-pit sand-and-gravel quarry first proposed by investors in 2015. The quarry project faced opposition from environmental groups, several city councils and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. The Amah Mutsun expressed elation and emphasized the site's cultural and ancestral significance. The deal closed Wednesday and removes the threat of large-scale development.
Read at The Mercury News
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