Long-held goals of conserving Wild Cherry Canyon, the expansive coastal open space southeast of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, are closer than ever to being fulfilled thanks to major investment approved by the California State Coastal Conservancy.
The Coastal Conservancy unanimously greenlit awarding $42 million to the Wildlands Conservancy, a land preservation advocacy group.
That grant props up the Wildlands Conservancy as the eventual owners of Wild Cherry Canyon, allowing it to acquire leaseholder interest and fee title of the property from Pacific Gas and Electric Company subsidiary Eureka Energy.
The Wildlands Conservancy will partner with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County and yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (ytt) Northern Chumash Tribe for land management.
“The people who lived at Wild Cherry Canyon and who are buried there are our relatives,” tribal Chair Mona Tucker told the Coastal Conservancy. “We had hoped for a very long time that Wild Cherry Canyon would be protected and preserved. … For the last 250 years, we have kept an eye on Wild Cherry Canyon and the Diablo Canyon lands, but from afar, because those gates were locked, and no one gave us a key.”
Though Tucker supported the newly proposed conservation efforts, she cautioned that resources found at Wild Cherry Canyon, tribal or otherwise, must be handled delicately and with precision.
Wild Cherry Canyon has faced numerous stops and starts since conservation talks began roughly 26 years ago.
‘Those old proposals for some 15,000 units of estate-style homes will never happen on Wild Cherry Canyon. Instead, the ecological, cultural, and scenic vistas will be conserved in perpetuity.’
—Kara Woodruff, Sen. John Laird’s senior policy advisor
The 2,400-acre property is the southern-most parcel of Diablo Canyon land—12,000 acres surrounding the nuclear plant that also includes North Ranch and South Ranch—owned by PG&E and its affiliates.
For years, Wild Cherry Canyon was locked in litigation between Eureka Energy and long-term lease owners and real estate development company HomeFed Corporation concerning ownership rights to the 99-year lease on the property.
At the Coastal Conservancy meeting, state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Coastal Conservancy Secretary’s designee Bryan Cash noted that Wild Cherry Canyon experienced obstacles during Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration.
In a pre-recorded video, Laird told the Coastal Conservancy that Schwarzenegger tried to seal a deal to acquire Wild Cherry Canyon from the HomeFed Corporation, but it fell through. Under Gov. Jerry Brown, Laird also made similar unsuccessful attempts as the state secretary of natural resources.
“During the Schwarzenegger administration, that governor pulled the plug on the deal because the then local Sen. [Sam] Blakeslee didn’t vote as he’d hoped/expected—and this was how he was punished,” Laird’s district director and senior policy advisor, Kara Woodruff, told New Times via email. “I don’t know all the details there, but it surely ended the project (temporarily!).”
Woodruff was once married to Blakeslee and has been a longtime advocate of preserving Wild Cherry Canyon and protect it from development. In 2028, she plans to run for supervisor in SLO County’s 3rd District, where Diablo Canyon sits.
She said that Wild Cherry Canyon preservation efforts experienced a breakthrough last December because of a California Coastal Commission meeting where PG&E had to reduce impacts associated with Diablo Canyon’s continued operations in exchange for a coastal development permit.
“The Coastal Commission had concluded that the most effective way to mitigate for impacts was through protection of the watershed—in this case, the Diablo Canyon lands,” Woodruff said. “[PG&E] agreed to transfer 4,600 acres at North Ranch for conservation and public access and set in place a path for conservation of Wild Cherry Canyon and South Ranch. PG&E also agreed to double its new trail investment to $10 million. A huge success!”
Woodruff credited Laird for negotiating the beneficial mitigation package.
Following the 2023-24 legislative session, a partnership between Laird and state Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) also secured $40 million to conserve Wild Cherry Canyon.
That $40 million was allocated in 2024 and was marked out in Senate Bill 846 as funds to be set aside for conservation of and public access to Diablo Canyon land. The additional $2 million that completes the conservation grant to the Wildlands Conservancy came from the state general fund.
The Wildlands Conservancy plans to purchase leaseholder interest by the end of the year or early 2027. Subsequently, it will acquire the fee title by the end of 2027. PG&E will retain fee title to roughly 200 acres needed for road access to Diablo Canyon, along with 50 acres previously developed with a house.
“Those old proposals for some 15,000 units of estate-style homes will never happen on Wild Cherry Canyon,” Woodruff said. “Instead, the ecological, cultural, and scenic vistas will be conserved in perpetuity.” ∆
This article appears in Autumn Arts Annual 2026.
