A Gavin Newsom-run commission has handed over a spectacular 136-acre California beach back to three Indigenous tribes. 

Blues Beach and the Mendocino County bluffs will be handed over to a tribal nonprofit group, Kai Poma, which represents the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. 

The historic June 26 move is the first time the California Department of Transportation has returned land back to the Indigenous people, The Los Angeles Times reported. 

‘This is beyond huge,’ J Carlos Rivera, the Sherwood Valley tribal chairman, told The LA Times. 

‘It’s enormous from our tribal perspective that we are basically obtaining the land that our people once lived on before colonization.’ 

The beach, located south of Westport, offers sweeping ocean views. California purchased the land in the 1960s while expanding Highway 1 to give motorists a scenic view of the shoreline and its rugged cliffs, according to a coastal commission report. 

It comes after the California Coastal Commission, which is overseen by Newsom, announced plans to return land to Native American tribes in an effort centered on ‘healing and restoration,’ according to a press release. 

Newsom unveiled more than $100 million in funding for 33 land projects aimed at supporting Native American tribes. 

A Gavin Newsom-run commission handed over a 136-acre California beach back to three Indigenous tribes

Blues Beach and the Mendocino County bluffs will be handed over to tribal group Kai Poma, which represents the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians

The beach, located south of Westport, offers sweeping ocean views 

Newsom unveiled more than $100 million in funding for 33 land projects aimed at supporting Native American tribes

‘These awards are an acknowledgment of past sins, a promise of accountability, and a commitment to a better future,’ the Democratic governor said in a statement at the time. 

Public access has remained largely unregulated in recent years, drawing large crowds to the beach on summer weekends and holidays for camping and parties.

According to the report, some visitors have driven through environmentally sensitive areas, damaging cultural sites and leaving behind trash. 

Planning documents have since revealed that Kai Poma will now conduct cultural and archaeological studies to develop an environmental plan aimed at protecting the sacred site and its resources, the LA Times reported.

Rivera, who described the entire property as ‘sacred,’ told the outlet: ‘Protecting the land, it has a deeper meaning for us because we’re connected to the land.’

He added that tribal members use the coastal waters to gather seaweed and abalone, while the shoreline serves as the site of youth cultural camps. 

The effort to transfer the land took years, as the state Transportation Department lacked the legal authority to do so until Newsom signed a bill, changing the law, in 2021.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mike McGuire, authorized the land transfer while also prohibiting commercial activity on the property and requiring public access to be maintained.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mike McGuire, authorized the land transfer while prohibiting commercial activity on the property and requiring public access to be maintained

The historic move is the first time the California Department of Transportation has returned landed back to the Indigenous people

J Carols Rivera, the Sherwood Valley tribal chairman, told The LA Times: ‘This is beyond huge’

In a statement, McGuire said: ‘With 136 acres now officially transferred into tribal stewardship, one of the most spectacular stretches of the Mendocino Coast will be forever protected.’

‘This agreement, the first of its kind in California, gives these three dynamic Native American tribes the rightful opportunity to reclaim sacred lands and cultural traditions on this special piece of earth,’ he added. ‘And it’s about damn time.’

Now, the public will have access to the beach from sunrise to sunset, according to the LA Times.

All that remains is the deed transfer, which will officially place the land in Kai Poma’s ownership. That step is expected to happen any day now, the outlet reported. 

California is home to the largest number of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States and has more than 750,000 Native American residents, according to World Population Review. 

The state is home to 109 federally recognized tribes and more than 50 non-federally recognized tribal groups, as well as nearly 100 separate reservations. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Newsom for comment.