7 days left to comment on project that threatens the most sacred site of the Amah Mutson Tribal band
Santa Clara County's public comment period on the draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed mining project that threatens Juristac ends on Monday, November 7th. The comment period is a crucial opportunity to challenge this destructive project and submit specific concerns to the County for review. The planned 403-acre mining operation and processing plant would devastate the most sacred site of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, eliminate precious grassland and oak woodland habitat, and disrupt a critical wildlife movement corridor.Your voice is needed. Our success in defeating this mine at Juristac depends on overwhelming, vocal public opposition. We greatly appreciate your support.
—Chairman Valentin Lopez, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
How to submit comments to the County
Quickest option: Fill out this simple form (provided by an allied organization) with your contact information, edit the template message if you wish, and press send! Only takes a minute.
[ Or, try this quick form from Green Foothills ]
Most impactful option: Write your own unique letter using our Protect Juristac EIR Comments webpage, which contains writing tips, a template letter, and other resources.
Already submitted a comment letter but have more to say? You can submit additional comments to the County, there's no restrictions.
A few Juristac campaign updates
✦ The November 7th Rally for Juristac in San Jose was a big success! Over 400 people gathered in front of the Santa Clara County government center in San Jose to stand with the Amah Mutsun in calling for the protection of Juristac. You can watch a video of the 28 amazing rally speakers, read a reportback from the day, or view an album of photos.
✦ In August of this year, the City of Gilroy became the fifth regional cityto unanimously adopt a resolution against the proposed mine at Juristac, joining Morgan Hill, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Santa Cruz.
✦ Many news outlets have covered Juristac this year, including the SF Chronicle, CBS Bay Area, Fox 2 KTVU and Telemundo Bay Area. A full press coverage list is available on our Resources webpage.
✦ Resolutions and letters of supportfor protecting Juristac continue to come in from churches, scholars, nonprofits, tribes and unions such as SEIU 521. Every letter helps.
✦ The Protect Juristac Instagram account is back in action, follow us @protect.juristac
✦ There are now over 23,000 signatures on the petition to protect Juristac when combining the online and paper signature counts! New signatures come in every day and we are hoping to reach 25,000.
✦ Thousands of public comment letters have already been submitted. The California Environmental Quality Act requires the County to review & respond to every letter they receive, incorporating any substantial new information in their final EIR.
✦ Thanks to requests from the ACLU of Nor. Cal and others, the 55-page Executive Summary of the Draft Environmental Impact Report that describes the mining project has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
✦ The applicant (developer) has been vocalizing support for "Alternative 3"—a modified mining plan that would reduce destructive impacts in some areas while increasing them in others. This alternative remains completely unacceptable to the Amah Mutsun.
✦ For more updates visit protectjuristac.org and the Protect Juristac Facebook page.
"My dream for the future is for our people to one day return to Juristac. I want to be able to stand on Juristac with my cousins and family and continue the practices of our Big Head ceremony, a ceremony that our ancestors used to hold many years ago. My dreams won't be achievable unless the mining permit is denied and our land is given back."
—Gabriela Garcia, Amah Mutsun youth representative
Campaign to Protect Juristac c/o
Amah Mutsun Land Trust2460 17th Ave. #1019 Santa Cruz, CA 95062 Add to your address book