Wildlife Board OKs Hearst Deal
SACRAMENTO — Over strong objections from some environmentalists, a state board on Thursday agreed to provide $34.5 million to help preserve the Hearst Ranch, a major stretch of undeveloped coastline in Central California.
The unanimous vote by the three-member Wildlife Conservation Board is the second of four steps in cementing a controversial deal totaling $95 million that opponents call too generous to owner Hearst Corp. and supporters hail as historic protection for spectacular ocean bluffs and hills surrounding Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
After a 4 1/2 -hour hearing that featured scores of impassioned speakers, the board gave its conditional approval to a deal that would require Hearst to sell more than 1,500 acres of coastal land to the state and give up rights to develop about 400 homes on the 82,000-acre ranch.
"This is probably one of the hugest deals ever done in the state, and you never will get to the point where all agree," said Jim Kellogg, who heads the wildlife board, which is the land acquisition arm of the California Department of Fish and Game.
Hearst, with a media empire of newspapers, magazines and TV stations, would receive $15 million in state tax credits and $80 million in cash. The company indicated that it would seek a federal tax write-off for a charitable contribution for the difference between what the state pays and the land's appraised value.
Hearst also would retain the rights to build a 100-room hotel and 27 homes.
The Wildlife Conservation Board authorized use of $34.5 million of the coastal watershed protection bond money approved by voters two years ago. The state Transportation Commission earlier approved spending $23 million in federal transportation funds for the deal. The Coastal Conservancy, a state coastal preservation agency, is scheduled to meet Sept. 15 to consider providing the balance of the funding. Approval from state public works officials also is required.
Thursday's vote brought a standing ovation and cheers from local supporters -- many of them business owners, ranchers and environmentalists who rode a bus and carpooled from San Luis Obispo County. A beaming Stephen T. Hearst, who heads the family-owned company's land division, praised the outpouring of support from the ranch's neighbors and exulted: "On to the Coastal Conservancy."
