One of the largest private land purchases for conservation in California’s Bay Area was just carried out to save a historic ranch from being turned into a sand quarry.
Before it was called Sargent Ranch, it was the sacred home of the Amah Mutsun Indian Band, and now it’s going to be protected for what one would assume to be a long, long time to come.
Located in south Santa Clara County, the ranch is about 27 miles from Monterey Bay. Here, the Palo Alto-based nonprofit Peninsula Open Space Trust, (POST) just completed the third purchase agreement that will see all but 7% of the original 6,500-acre Sargent Ranch leave the hands of developers who have sought environmental permitting for a sand and gravel quarry for a decade…