City of Santa Cruz considering resolution to support efforts to protect sacred land

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The Santa Cruz City Council is expected to vote on a resolution opposing a sand and gravel mining operation on land that is sacred to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.

The land is at Juristac, also known as Sargent Ranch, in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara County. The city council said in a report that the Debt Acquisition Company of America proposed the Sargent Quarry Project, which would affect 320 acres of land by developing a 14 acre processing plant, a 200 foot open pit quarry site, a 1.6 mile long conveyor belt and a 30 foot wide access road.

The tribal band said the development would harm the Mutsun cultural resources, landscape and spiritual integrity of the site. By passing a resolution in support of the tribal band's efforts, the city said it hopes to protect, enhance and sustain native and natural plant and animal communities and habitats, but also protect movement corridors and buffers.

Last month, Morgan Hill became the first city to adopt a resolution calling for the preservation of the land, according to the tribal band. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band said the effort to preserve the land is supported by Green Foothills, the Santa Cruz Sierra Club, the ACLU, the Santa Cruz Democratic Party and others.

The city council is set to vote on the resolution at its next city council meeting Tuesday.