SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 7 (Santa Rosa News Online) — California has cleared the final regulatory step to transfer 136 acres of Blues Beach and surrounding Mendocino County 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 Los Angeles Times reported that the California Transportation Commission approved the transfer on June 26, clearing the way for Caltrans staff to record the deed and move title from the state to the tribal nonprofit.
State Sen. Mike McGuire, who sponsored the legislation that made the transfer possible, said in a statement carried by the Los Angeles Times that the land should be returned to tribal stewardship. “And it’s about damn time,” McGuire said.
The transfer was enabled by SB 231, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2021. A California Senate release said the law authorized Caltrans to transfer the property to a nonprofit organized by the three tribes and required that the land remain open to public access, while prohibiting commercial activity and limiting use to habitat protection and the preservation of Native American cultural resources.
McGuire’s office said he began working with local tribes and community members on the Blues Beach property in 2019. In a March 31, 2025 letter to the California Coastal Commission, McGuire backed coastal development permit application 1-24-0662 for the transfer.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the parcel, just south of Westport on the Mendocino Coast, is the first Caltrans-managed land to be returned to Indigenous tribes.
