_{Thumbnail photo: Rosa Laucci, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation marine program manager, led a hike down the Sweetwater Creek Trail during a 2023 celebration commemorating the reclamation of place names at Tolowa Dunes State Park. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews}

Three months after he opposed a proposal to transfer Tolowa Dunes State Park to the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Del Norte County District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard has his sights set on another assembly bill penned by the same author.

Authored by San Bernardino Assemblyman James Ramos, Assembly Bill 53 would allow federally recognized tribes to receive grants, awards and loans from the Wildlife Conservation Board’s California Riparian Habitat Conservation Program and Inlands Wetlands Conservation Program.

It would also allow federally-recognized tribes the ability to enter into contracts or agreements with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage “certain lands.” 

AB 53 would have also authorized the sale or transmittal of conservation lands to tribal nations, but according to Howard that language was removed. Still, he told his colleagues Tuesday, there is an effort for the proposed land transfer language to be added back into the bill.

“This came forward as a gut and amend,” Howard said of AB 53. “And in all honestly, it’s really a race to the clock before Governor Newsom leaves office because he is willing to have a feather in his cap as it relates to state lands and the transfer of those lands to, potentially, sovereign nations within the State of California and has given direction through his secretaries, specifically (Natural Resources Secretary) Wade Crowfoot, in order to make those mechanisms happen.”

At Howard’s request, the Board of Supervisors agreed to ratify a letter he sent to Ramos on June 19 — before the land transfer language was removed from AB 53 — into the record.

Supervisors also agreed to send a letter to Ramos, supporting the provision that allows tribes to receive Wildlife Conservation Board grants, awards and loans and requesting that Del Norte County be kept informed and part of the discussion. 

At District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey’s suggestion, the letter would also acknowledge the removal of the land transfer provision from the bill.

“We don’t necessarily oppose the cooperative tribal management (provision) in principle, but what we really want here in Del Norte County is reasonable notice,” said Starkey, who, along with Howard, met with CDFW representatives to discuss concerns regarding state-owned lands in Del Norte. “We want to be part of the conversation, we don’t want to learn about this after the fact.”

Ramos, the first California Native American to be elected to the Assembly, first introduced AB 53 to his colleagues on Dec. 2, 2024. Since Howard sent his letter to Ramos on June 19, 2026, the bill was reviewed and altered by the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

In April, Howard and his colleagues sent a letter to Ramos opposing AB 2356, which would have transferred Tolowa Dunes State Park to the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation. On Tuesday, Howard said Elk Valley Rancheria, which also has a great deal of interest in Tolowa Dunes State Park, would have been “potentially the loser.”

“Picking winners and losers is what that legislation would have resulted in and the author pulled the legislation at the time,” he said.

In his June 19 letter to Ramos, Howard mentioned Del Norte County’s government-to-government relationship with the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Elk Valley Rancheria and the Yurok Tribe. He said he was concerned that AB 53 would allow conservation lands to be transferred to federally-recognized tribes without the public hearing and legislative authorization process that would normally apply.

“I am concerned that this change would remove important transparency and local input mechanisms for decisions involving conservation lands located within county boundaries,” Howard wrote.

Proponents of AB 53, which includes the Karuk Tribe, said Ramos’s legislation would call upon “centuries of accumulated knowledge” tribal nations offer for ecological restoration and land management practices.

“For generations, tribes across California have maintained reciprocal relationships with the lands and water under our care,” the Karuk Tribe wrote. “Tribal stewardship practices, including cultural burning, fisheries management, meadow enhancement and watershed protection, have sustained ecosystems across California for years.”

At a Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 14, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Executive Director Troy Ralstin said reclaiming Yontocket and the tribe’s ancestral land, which lie within Tolowa Dunes State Park boundaries, was a priority for TdN members. Their goal with AB 2536 was to protect the cultural, wildlife, environmental and historical values of the land, TdN Natural Resources Department Director Rachel McCain said.

Public access for fishing would continue to be under CDFW’s jurisdiction if the assembly bill had been signed into law, McCain said.