Spring updates, and EIR delayed to late summer

The movement to protect Juristac has been off to a strong start in 2020. Two new Protect Juristac solidarity groups have formed, in Watsonville, CA and at Stanford University. An inspirational Juristac benefit concert in Santa Cruz with a standing-room only crowd built and strengthened connections. Letters and resolutions of support have continued to come in, most recently from the Morgan Hill Historical Society, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Stanford Undergraduate Senate.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve shifted to online communication and organizing, and efforts are underway to provide educators in our region with curriculum and resources to incorporate Juristac and the Amah Mutsun into their online classes. If you are an educator who is interested in receiving or contributing to curriculum, or would like to network with others who are teaching about Juristac, please email info [at] protectjuristac.org

The latest from the Santa Clara County Planning Department regarding the draft environmental impact report for the proposed mining project is that they’re now expecting to release the report in late summer. This update came before COVID-19 containment measures came into effect, so we don’t know whether the county’s EIR preparation will experience further delay as a result.

To stay in touch during this time, please follow our Instagram and Facebook accounts, and if you’re an artist, we encourage you to make Protect Juristac related artwork and share it with the #protectjuristac hashtag.

If you have free time online, please help out by finding ways to further share the Protect Juristac petition. Another great way to help is to encourage organizations, elected officials or businesses to write letters to the County of Santa Clara in opposition to the proposed mining project.

Thanks and blessings to all of our supporters, stay safe out there!