Tribal members to help shape Bay Area open space as historic Juristac lands are reclaimed by deal

GILROY, Calif. (KGO) -- As tribal chairman and active historian, Ed Ketchum follows his family history like a trail, winding back through ancient villages surrounding what we now think of as Silicon Valley.

"So this picture was taken at this at the centennial of Mission San Juan Bautista, 1897," Ketchum said pointing to a photograph.

And he's used that detective work to help reclaim a stunning landscape, sacred to the local Amah Mutsun band of indigenous people. An area known historically as Juristac.

"Juristac was a place of good medicine. It was a place where many shamans lived, in particular Kuksui, lived in the hills here and would come down to ceremonies," he says.

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But after being absorbed by Spanish missionaries, the land eventually changed hands again becoming Sargent Ranch. And more recently, the focus of a fierce land battle, after owners unveiled plans to turn part of the site near Gilroy into a working sand and gravel mine.

Ketchum says the proposal energized the community. Crowds banded together to protest the mine and preserve the area's spiritual heritage.

"We then got help from many other groups and formed an alliance, which then grew to a movement to protect Juristac and stop the mining operation," Ketchum said..

The effort gained momentum when the Peninsula Open Space Trust began negotiating to purchase more than 6,000 acres. President Gordon Clark says the latest $23 million acquisition now marks the beginning of a new journey, reconnecting tribal members and the broader community to the historic lands.

"I think in the near term, what we're really focusing on is providing opportunities for members of the tribe who have been disconnected from this landscape for many, many generations to get back on this land, reconnect with the land, learn more about the land," Clark said.

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Beyond its cultural significance, Clark says the acquisition will help protect critical habitat for mountain lions and many other migrating species, connecting the Santa Cruz mountains with the Diablo Range.

"Golden eagles, bald eagles, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions. There are salamanders and turtles in the ponds and the streams. It's teeming with biodiversity," Clark points out.

And for Ed Ketchum, the purchase represents a step toward restoring the land to its historic role.

"It's our goal in the future to bring back elk and antelope to this, to these hillsides here. But it's going to have to be an effort that ties all the area together. It can't just be this one little piece of property. And so this is a long term goal. But it's a vision that we had, before and before 2000 that we were going to make this occur. This is the first part of this long term goal to return these areas to a, closer to what they were in pre-contact time."

The Peninsula Open Space Trust actually completed the Sargent Ranch acquisition in several stages. Contributions from Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, and private donors are helping to cover the total combined cost, estimated at more than $60 million.