Resolution No. xxxx
A RESOLUTION OF THE CHARTER CITY OF PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA IN SUPPORT OF THE EFFORTS OF
THE AMAH MUTSUN TRIBAL BAND TO PRESERVE JURISTAC/SARGENT RANCH AS OPEN SPACE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CHARTER CITY OF PALO ALTO AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, the Charter City of Palo Alto is located within the ancestral lands of Ramaytush-speaking Ohlone peoples, represented today by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, and other tribal nations;
WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is comprised of descendants of Mutsun-speaking Ohlone peoples, whose ancestral territory includes southern portions of Santa Clara County; WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, and other Ohlone tribal nations and families survived two centuries of violent persecution and displacement during the Spanish, Mexican and American periods and today are working diligently to restore their Indigenous practices, regain stewardship of their lands and heal from historical trauma; WHEREAS, the area known as Juristac to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is the location of numerous historic ceremonial and sacred sites, comprising a landscape of paramount cultural and spiritual importance to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band;
WHEREAS, the Debt Acquisition Company of America, doing business as Sargent Ranch Management Company, has applied to the County of Santa Clara for a conditional use permit for a proposed sand and gravel mining operation with aggregate processing facilities on 403 acres within the landscape of Juristac, called Sargent Ranch by the Debt Acquisition Company of America; WHEREAS, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) prepared by Santa Clara County found that the Sargent Ranch Quarry would cause 14 separate significant and unavoidable impacts, including “permanent and irreversible alterations” to the Juristac Tribal Cultural Landscape that no reclamation activities could ever restore, and could also result in potential disturbance of archeological sites and human burials;
WHEREAS, the DEIR further found that the Sargent Ranch Quarry, due to its location directly across a major wildlife corridor in and out of the Santa Cruz Mountains, would interfere substantially with wildlife movement, which could reduce genetic variability and make populations of animals such as mountain lions more vulnerable to local extinction;
WHEREAS, the Tribal Council of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band has taken a unanimous stand in opposition to the Sargent Ranch Quarry Project and is requesting the support of surrounding communities in efforts to protect their sacred grounds;
WHEREAS, every major environmental organization in Santa Clara County, as well as several statewide and national environmental organizations, has announced public opposition to the Sargent Ranch Quarry; WHEREAS, resolutions supporting the efforts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to preserve the entirety of Juristac as open space have been unanimously adopted by the city councils of the City of Gilroy, City of Mountain View, City of Morgan Hill, City of Santa Cruz, City of Santa Clara, and City of Sunnyvale, as well as the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, the California Democratic Party, and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party;
WHEREAS, the Santa Clara County Human Rights Commission has voted unanimously to recognize the desecration of the Amah Mutsun sacred site of Juristac as a significant human rights issue and to recommend that the County of Santa Clara deny approval of permits for the proposed mine; WHEREAS, Juristac/Sargent Ranch is an open space area of exceptional regional significance and habitat value as recognized by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, and regional conservation organizations;
WHEREAS, the Sargent Ranch area is identified in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan and other regional habitat connectivity studies as a critically important wildlife corridor linking the Santa Cruz Mountains, Gabilan Mountains, and Diablo Range;
WHEREAS, the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan includes a Natural Environment Element that clearly demonstrates the City’s commitment to protection of the natural environment, including policies calling for the protection of special-status species and plant communities (Policy N-1.4), preservation of the foothills and hillside areas for their unique value as natural ecosystems and interconnected wildlife corridors (N-1.6), minimizing impacts of any new development on the natural ecology of the hillsides (Policy N-1.8), and supporting regional and sub-regional efforts for a seamless open space system, including habitat linkages and trail connections (Policy N-1.10); WHEREAS, the Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan calls for the protection of archeological resources, including natural land formations, sacred sites, the historical landscape, historic habitats and remains of settlements here before the founding of Palo Alto in the 19th century (Policy L-7.15); WHEREAS, the Amah Mutsun Tribe is very invested in the condor’s comeback, leading ceremonies to release the condors and working with the National Park Service on their recovery. Condors are a culturally significant species, serving as constant messengers between tribal members and their deceased relatives who have passed to the other side. It is shortsighted to try to recover a species only to turn around to destroy their habitat;
WHEREAS, Juristac is not only an important wildlife connectivity area, it is also a prime habitat for California red-legged frogs, golden eagles, American badgers and mountain lions and is an area crucial for the survival of not just condors but many other species; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE CHARTER CITY OF PALO ALTO AS FOLLOWS:
1) That the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto supports the efforts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to preserve Juristac/Sargent Ranch as open space in perpetuity and to regain access to their cultural and spiritual sites at Juristac.
2) That the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto supports the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band’s preference to retain the name of the open space as Juristac. 3) That the Charter City of Palo Alto urges the County of Santa Clara to deny approval of permits for the proposed Sargent Ranch Quarry Project.
4) Effective date. This resolution shall become effective immediately.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the Charter City of Palo Alto at its meeting held on this xxth day of xxxx month by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT: