CA set aside $40 million to preserve 2,400-acre property by Diablo Canyon. What happens next?

California lawmakers allocated $40 million of the state budget to the purchase and preservation of Wild Cherry Canyon, a nearly undeveloped, 2,400-acre property that is part of the land surrounding the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant .

“The community has vigorously advocated for the protection of this ecologically and culturally rich coastal property for 25 years,” State Senator John Laird said in a statement. “Today, that vision is a big step closer to becoming reality.”

The California State Coastal Conservancy will award the funding to an organization with experience managing land for conservation and public access, according to a news release from Laird’s office.

The funding prohibits development on the land and requires the next owner to guarantee public access to the property.

The $40 million must be spent by June 30, 2029, the release said.

State legislators fight for Wild Cherry Canyon funding

The $40 million is just a slice of the funding the state Legislature promised for preservation of land surrounding the power plant.

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 846 into law — which outlined a plan to support the continued operation of the nuclear plant and promised $160 million for the preservation of 12,000 acres of land surrounding Diablo.

Last year, the state Legislature allocated $10 million of the state budget to those preservation efforts , and this year, they awarded the $40 million — a difficult task when the state budget faced up to a $68 billion deficit .

“It is a very difficult budget year, but this was a top priority for me, for our district and for SLO County,” State Assembly member Dawn Addis told The Tribune. “One of the things that makes SLO County so special is the preservation that has happened, and so Wild Cherry Canyon is a part of that.”

The state still owes $110 million of the $160 million originally promised to Diablo land preservation in Senate Bill 846.

The Legislature postponed the remaining funding to a year when the budget is stronger, Laird said.

“While some of those funds were deferred until the state budget situation improves, I am delighted to report that we successfully fought to keep $40 million in this year’s budget for the acquisition of Wild Cherry Canyon” Laird said in his statement.

What might happen with Wild Cherry Canyon property when it is bought?

Wild Cherry Canyon is wedged between two State Parks: Avila State Beach and Montaña de Oro.

A 2023 report published by the California Natural Resources Agency identified California State Parks as a potential future owner and steward of Wild Cherry Canyon.

The property could be operated by State Parks as an extension of Montaña de Oro State Park, the report said.

The report envisioned more recreation opportunities on the land, including “an interior trail connecting Wild Cherry Canyon and Montaña de Oro State Park through the Irish Hills,” it said.

That trail would also be an extension of the California Coastal Trail , which will offer a connected network of trail systems from Oregon to Mexico when completed.

Meanwhile, the report recommended that the future property owner enter into a tribal conservation and access easement, which would establish California Native American tribes as a partner in the management of the property.

Appeal ongoing over land rights for Diablo Canyon-area property

Wild Cherry Canyon is the southernmost parcel of the Diablo Canyon lands owned by Euerka Energy, a subsidiary of PG&E.

For the past few decades, however, the real estate development company HomeFed Corporation held a lease on the property and grazed cattle there. HomeFed planned to eventually develop the property , with the potential for anything from a dude ranch to 2,500 housing units.

In May 2023, however, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge Rita Federman ruled that Euerka Energy owned the rights to the land , not HomeFed Corporation. She decided that HomeFed’s lease on the land expired in 2019 because it was used primarily for agricultural purposes.

HomeFed appealed the decision in the California Sixth District Court of Appeal . The appeal is still ongoing.

The outcome of the appeal will decide which entity the State Coastal Conservancy and its grantee must negotiate with to buy the land.