In July, a local tribe wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to return Diablo Canyon lands back to its rightful owners—yak tityu tityu yak tihini—Ytt Northern Chumash Tribe.
A legislative resolution calling for the land’s return under the state’s Tribal Land Transfer policy was included with the letter. Both documents were sent as the Legislature debates whether to keep the Diablo Canyon Power Plant open past its original 2025 decommissioning date.
Mona Tucker, tribal chair of the Ytt Northern Chumash said that the tribe began its active campaign to reclaim its lands after PG&E announced the closure of the plant in 2016. After the Diablo Canyon decommissioning panel formed in 2018, the SLO County Board of Supervisors required PG&E to submit a genealogy study as a condition for granting a grading permit to alter the terrain of the area.
“And in that study, he firmly associated our family, our families, the local tribe, with really substantial link to those ancestral villages,” Tucker said.
The tribe’s letter to the governor also points to the 30-by-30 initiative, which pledges to protect 30 percent of California’s land and water.
“And also in 2020, we signed an MOU with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County because our goals for Diablo land is not development. It’s not resources, its not McMansions on the Hill, but it is for preservation and conservation and managed public access,” Tucker said.
But the future of that track is uncertain, as California lawmakers proposed draft legislation earlier this month to keep the nuclear plant open 10 years beyond its original 2025 closing date.
Whether the plant is decommissioned in the short- or long-term, Tucker says returning the Diablo Canyon lands to its rightful owners is an opportunity to right a centuries-old wrong.
“When people look back to the year 2022, we want them to see that the tribe came together with the community, the state, and perhaps the federal government to put this into ownership of people whose true goal was rich preservation and conservation,” Tucker said.
But even if the state Legislature passed the bill to keep Diablo open, it doesn’t mean the plant won’t close in 2025.
“So we only know that the Legislature passing enabling legislation for the possibility of the plant staying open still exists, but whether it actually stays open, I think it’ll probably it’ll be a number of months before we know that,” Kara Woodruff, a SLO resident and former member of the Diablo decommissioning panel, said.
Any issues that arise from the decision would be handled by the California Public Utility Commission, which would also be involved in any future plans for the land that’s left behind after the plant closes, according to former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee.
“Ultimately, they have a responsibility to determine how lands owned by PG&E are disposed of because these lands were purchased with ratepayer dollars. So the Public Utility Commission has a duty to the public, to be sure that that money are ultimately not a gift to a individual specific party,” Blakeslee said. “So the Public Utilities Commission will ultimately decide what can or can’t happen with those lands.”
Blakeslee authored the DREAM initiative, which county voters passed in 2000 and aimed to preserve Diablo Canyon lands long-term.
While the future of Diablo is somewhat unlear, Ytt Tribal Chair Tucker said it’s clear that both the residents of San Luis Obispo County and the tribe want to protect Diablo Canyon lands.
“We want to be in a position to protect this land. Protect what’s there, not just for our benefit, it’s for the benefit of California. It’s for the benefit of all people. [While] I can’t speak for other tribes, I’d like for communities and governments, organizations [to] maybe reach out to the local tribes in your area and ask them what help can you provide. Because we all need allies. We all need friends. And in order for us to get our land back, we’re asking for help. And that’s what we did when we sent our letter to the governor,” Tucker said. Δ
This article appears in Aug 18-28, 2022.