California returns stretch of coast to Indigenous tribes. 'This is beyond huge'

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Set us as preferred California is returning a stretch of rugged Mendocino County coast to the Indigenous nations whose ancestors once stewarded its shores.State transportation officials recently approved the transfer of Blues Beach and the surrounding bluffs to Kai Poma, a nonprofit founded by representatives of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians.The transfer of 136 acres just south of the community of Westport will mark the first time land managed by the California Department of Transportation has been returned to Indigenous tribes.“This is beyond huge,” said J.Carlos Rivera, tribal chairman of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians.

“It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.”California purchased the swath of rocky cliffs and windswept shoreline in the 1960s to expand the construction of Highway 1 and create a scenic viewpoint for highway travelers, according to a California Coastal Commission report.More recently, public access has been largely unregulated, and summer weekends and holidays have drawn large groups who camp and party on the beach, at times driving through sensitive areas, damaging cultural sites and leaving behind trash, the report states.Kai Poma plans to conduct cultural and archaeological resource studies and environmental surveys and then prepare a resource management plan for the property, according to planning documents.The nonprofit and the Coastal Commission have drafted a public access management plan that states the land will be open from sunrise to sunset.Rivera described the entire property as a sacred site.

The coastal waters are used by tribal people for seaweed and abalone gathering, and the shores host youth cultural ca...