Juristac Protected: A Long-Awaited Conservation Win

After decades of uncertainty and repeated development threats, Juristac (aka Sargent Ranch) is finally protected. The Peninsula Open Space Trust has announced the purchase of an additional 2,284 acres, bringing the total protected land at Juristac to more than 6,100 acres of rolling hills, grasslands and oak woodlands, creeks, riparian forests and sycamore woodlands. The threats of development, mining, and other extractive activities are over!

For the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance, this moment reflects many years of advocacy alongside many conservation groups and in strong support of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, for whom Juristac is a sacred cultural landscape.

Why Juristac Matters

Juristac protects one of the last large, contiguous grassland landscapes in Santa Clara County. These habitats support raptors like Golden Eagles, Burrowing Owls, kestrels and hawks. Golden Eagles rely on expansive, connected open lands for hunting and dispersal, while burrowing owls need open grasslands to nest and forage successfully. Red-tailed Hwks, Northern Harriers, and other raptors use Juristac’s rolling hills, oak woodlands, and creek corridors for hunting and migration. Juristac also protects one of the last Sycamore alluvial woodlands in our region, an important stopover habitat for many species of migratory birds.

Furthermore, Juristac provides an important connectivity element of the California landscape, linking habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Diablo Range, and Gabilan Range. This linkage allows wildlife to move across the landscape, adapt to climate change, and maintain healthy populations. Grassland birds, raptors, amphibians, and large mammals all depend on this connected terrain.

Tar Creek at Sargent Ranch: Shani Kleinhaus

The land also holds deep cultural significance. For thousands of years, Juristac has been a place of ceremony, healing, and gathering for the Amah Mutsun people. The land was originally part of the early 19th-century Mexican land grant Rancho Juristac, tying today’s conservation to centuries of layered history in this region.

Juristac is also geologically unique. The property includes natural tar springs, where petroleum seeps to the surface and slowly feeds Tar Creek - an uncommon and striking geological feature in this region. These features are part of Juristac’s natural history and add yet another reason this landscape is irreplaceable.

By keeping this landscape whole and free from development, the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance helped secure real, functioning habitat, ensuring that raptors can soar, hunt, and move across this critical landscape for generations to come.

A Complicated History

Over the decades, Sargent Ranch has drawn repeated development schemes, including oil extraction, golf courses, casinos, luxury housing, quarries, and mining. Many of these efforts ended in litigation or bankruptcy, underscoring the land’s vulnerability and its enduring value.

Throughout this long history, SCVBA has remained engaged, raising concerns about bird habitat, water quality and wildlife movement, and consistently supporting protection of the land rather than industrial use.

Looking Ahead

With this latest acquisition, Juristac is finally shifting from uncertainty to stewardship. For birds, wildlife, and people, this protection means intact habitat, dark skies, flowing creeks, and a future shaped by respect for both nature and culture.

Juristac — By the Numbers

2,284 acres - newly protected in this acquisition
6,100+ acres - now conserved overall
3 major mountain ranges connected - Santa Cruz, Diablo, Gabilan
Thousands of years - of Amah Mutsun cultural history
Multiple decades - of community and conservation advocacy
Rare tar springs - unique geological features preserved