Nearly 700 acres of Sonoma County coast protected under deal with landowners, Kashia Pomo

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, October 18, 2015

[excerpt:]

Sonoma County supervisors have signed off on the final piece of a complex deal that will transfer nearly 700 acres of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians’ ancestral lands near Stewarts Point back to the tribe in exchange for permission to build a public bluff-top trail along more than a mile of sweeping coastline.

The $6 million deal, put together by the Trust for Public Lands in partnership with more than a half-dozen private and public agencies, was dependent on the willingness of the sellers — three descendants of the area’s Richardson family — to accept a discounted price nearly $1 million below the appraised value, partners in the transaction said.

The agreement is being hailed as a proud, healing occasion — one that restores coastal access to the Kashia people while providing for environmental conservation and public use.

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