For the most part, California cemeteries are left alone by developers and
government agencies. The Native American lobby jolted the California legislature
about twenty years ago and the definition changed from six to one human burial
to qualify as a cemetery. The problem has been un-marked and un-recorded
cemeteries that get found during construction monitoring. Generally, Native
American monitors have worked with authorities and allowed relocation of the buried
remains, or the authorities have relocated construction. Such was the case
several years ago when several historic graves were encountered at the Viejas
Reservation in East San Diego County. When working for the County of San Diego, I
personally directed dedicated open space easements around the Mount Pitsgah
Cemetery in Alpine and a prehistoric cemetery in Japatul Valley. All the
consultants that I know of in San Diego try to influence their developer clients to
do just that. Cemetery protection has been less successful in smaller cities
where developers have more to lose, but my only information on that has been
second hard. In the late 1980s, I tried to influence the management to create an
ordinance protecting cemeteries in land development projects, but they shied
away from the topic. I hope my successors have better luck.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.