{"id":394413,"date":"2026-07-11T04:51:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T04:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394413\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T04:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T04:51:18","slug":"icymi-newsom-administration-advances-historic-return-of-blues-beach-to-local-tribal-stewardship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/394413\/","title":{"rendered":"ICYMI: Newsom administration advances historic return of Blues Beach to local tribal stewardship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>California first acquired the section of cliffside and shoreline in the 1960s as part of a plan to create scenic overlooks and recreational opportunities along Highway 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThanks to Governor Newsom\u2019s leadership and Senator McGuire\u2019s legislation, this transfer acknowledges the deep cultural, historical, and ecological significance of this 136-acre property to local tribes and advances long-standing efforts to return stewardship responsibilities to tribal communities,\u201d said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Generations of visitors have come to the beach for recreation and sightseeing, and that history will continue under tribal stewardship. Caltrans will keep an easement for future maintenance. Once transferred, Kai Poma will manage the site in keeping with its cultural, environmental, and public access commitments.<\/p>\n<p>Bigger picture<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, Governor Newsom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/6.18.19-Executive-Order.pdf\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/6.18.19-Executive-Order.pdf\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">issued the first formal apology<\/a> on behalf of the State of California to California Native American peoples at the future site of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parks.ca.gov\/?page_id=22628\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.parks.ca.gov\/?page_id=22628\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California Indian Heritage Center<\/a>. In that moment, he also announced the creation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/tribalaffairs.ca.gov\/cthc\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/tribalaffairs.ca.gov\/cthc\/\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">California Truth and Healing Council<\/a>, charged with examining the historical relationship between the state and tribal communities and recommending steps toward truth, healing, and repair. Since then, the Council, led by Secretary Snider-Ashtari, has worked with tribal communities to record and better understand the historical relationship between the state and California Native Americans. Through collaborative and consultative work of the Council, the Governor\u2019s Office of Tribal Affairs, and tribes across the state, the state has developed a number of programs and initiatives that place tribal partnership at the heart of land conservation, climate resilience, and cultural preservation, such as:<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, the Governor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/9.25.20-Native-Ancestral-Lands-Policy.pdf\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/9.25.20-Native-Ancestral-Lands-Policy.pdf\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">directed state agencies<\/a> to support California tribes\u2019 co\u2011management of and access to natural lands that are within a California tribe\u2019s ancestral land and under the ownership or control of the State of California. That directive, paired with record investments to tribes, has enabled California tribes to access and steward forests, rangelands, rivers, and coastline.<\/p>\n<p>Through the administration\u2019s Tribal Nature-Based Solutions grant program, and many other conservation grant programs, the state has awarded over $200 million to fund the return of over 100,000 acres of land to California Native American tribes, including<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lostcoastoutpost.com\/2023\/dec\/20\/hoopa-valley-tribe-announces-massive-land-reaquisi\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/lostcoastoutpost.com\/2023\/dec\/20\/hoopa-valley-tribe-announces-massive-land-reaquisi\/\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hoopa Valley Tribe\u2019s<\/a> acquisition of 10,395 acres of forested property, returning Hupa Mountain to tribal stewardship.\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2025\/10\/29\/tule-river-indian-tribe-of-california-reclaims-over-17000-acres-and-reintroduces-tule-elk-on-ancestral-land\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2025\/10\/29\/tule-river-indian-tribe-of-california-reclaims-over-17000-acres-and-reintroduces-tule-elk-on-ancestral-land\/\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tule River Tribe\u2019<\/a>s acquisition of 14,672 acres of land to support tribal environmental and species conservation.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/newsfromnativecalifornia.com\/washoe-tribe-celebrates-the-return-of-ancestral-homelands\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/newsfromnativecalifornia.com\/washoe-tribe-celebrates-the-return-of-ancestral-homelands\/\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Washoe Tribe\u2019s<\/a> acquisition of 10,274 acres of land to support the Tribe\u2019s environmental and cultural priorities, including restoring the biodiversity and watershed.<br \/>\n\u00a0\u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iipaynationofsantaysabel-nsn.gov\/post\/iipay-nation-of-santa-ysabelreclaims-1-107-acres-of-ancestral-land-in-the-san-felipe-valley\" data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/www.iipaynationofsantaysabel-nsn.gov\/post\/iipay-nation-of-santa-ysabelreclaims-1-107-acres-of-ancestral-land-in-the-san-felipe-valley\" data-cke-saved- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel\u2019s<\/a> acquisition of 1,107 acres, to support the Tribe\u2019s environmental and cultural priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California first acquired the section of cliffside and shoreline in the 1960s as part of a plan to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-394413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}