The Kashia Pomo can continue to use Stewarts Point on the Sonoma County coast for tribal ceremonies and food gathering, as they have for 12,000 years, even though the spot is now surrounded by a new state marine preserve.

Last week the California Fish and Game Commission crafted the first-ever exception for American Indian activities under the Marine Life Protection Act, the 1999 state law that ordered a chain of ocean preserves along the state's coastline.

That law made no allowance for tribal needs. And until recently, the years-long process to create the reserves, involving hundreds of public meetings, involved little outreach to native communities.

The commission, which holds the power of final approval over all the reserves, stated at its meeting Thursday in Sacramento that it intends to change this.

"Our work at Stewarts Point is a precedent for handling concerns like yours," Commissioner Michael Sutton told a group of tribal representatives.

In 2009, the commission approved a collection of 30 marine preserves along the North Central Coast, between Santa Cruz and Mendocino, covering about 153 square miles of ocean. The intent is to create aquatic "wilderness" zones where fishing is banned or severely restricted so fish and other wildlife can prosper.

One zone stretches between Salt Point State Park and Black Point.
In between lies Stewarts Point.

"Our people believe we first walked onto the Earth right there at Stewarts Point, and a lot of our traditions are passed down along that coast," said Reno Franklin, vice chair of the tribe, which numbers about 750 people.

Archeological evidence indicates the tribe has used the point, and surrounding shoreline, for 12,000 years, Franklin said. It has been a source of food including mussels, abalone, seaweed and fish, and also a place for ceremonies.

Over the past century, the tribe has been limited to a small reservation in nearby coastal hills. But the Richardson family, owner of the point and adjoining parcels since the 1870s, has always allowed tribal access to the shore.

Arch Richardson, a descendant of that family, was among the first and loudest to object when tribal concerns were neglected in the preserve planning. As originally proposed, the preserve would have taken away more than food from the tribe, he said.

"If they take away food, they're taking away their culture, they're taking away their religion," said Richardson. "I think they got overlooked from the very beginning."

When the commission got wind of those concerns, in June, it adopted an emergency rule ensuring public access to the area for one year.

On Thursday, it made that rules permanent by creating a "marine conservation area" near shore, within the preserve, where limited fishing and gathering are allowed.

Because the marine preserve act does not mention tribal needs, the exemption is for "recreational" purposes and applies to the public at large, not just the Kashia.
The Richardson family recently sold Stewarts Point to the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League, in partnership with Pacific Forest Trust, which are developing a plan to ensure access for the tribe.

"The lack of inclusion of a tribal point of view, it hurt the state, it hurt their reputation," said Franklin. "But they apologized to us for that."
The state has taken the lesson to heart.

Natural Resources Secretary John Laird met with a number of tribes Thursday. More meetings are planned to address their concerns in the North Coast region, where preserve planning is nearly done. And another exemption is likely for the Chumash Tribe near Vandenberg Air Force Base, on the South Coast.

"I believe they are listening and I believe they are hearing us," said Thomas O'Rourke, chair of the Yurok Tribe. "Bottom line, we all want the same thing, and that's to protect our resources. We understand each other there."
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