Orange County's long-awaited veterans cemetery in Gypsum Canyon has received local approvals, but the California Department of Veterans Affairs still has not taken possession of the 200-acre site, and the availability of a $10 million federal construction grant remains uncertain.
Rep. Lou Correa, who represents Santa Ana, sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom's office urging the state to secure the money amid uncertainty over whether it will remain available, according to mynewsla.com. The letter was signed by the full Orange County congressional delegation along with state lawmakers Tom Umberg, Sharon Quirk-Silva and Avelino Valencia, per the same report. Rep. Ken Calvert, who sits on the subcommittee that secured the cemetery funding, told Correa there is no guarantee the $10 million will remain available by calendar year-end, Correa said.
“Sacramento says the money will be there,” Correa said, questioning why California should not simply take the money and work with local officials, according to the outlet's report. Whether the funding will remain available beyond calendar year-end is uncertain.
A Decade of Gridlock Finally Resolved
The Gypsum Canyon site in Anaheim Hills emerged as the consensus location only after nearly a decade of political disagreement and city council gridlock over a competing proposal at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, according to the Assembly Budget Committee. Irvine city leaders eventually relinquished hopes for a site there, clearing the way for all 34 Orange County cities to endorse Gypsum Canyon instead.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors and all 34 cities support the project, per the mynewsla.com report, and the county has set aside 200 acres for the cemetery. The Anaheim City Council unanimously approved all local development and entitlement documents in July 2024, including a general plan amendment, zoning change, conditional use permit and parcel map, according to the Orange County Cemetery District. The master plan covers 238 acres and includes a state veterans cemetery and a public cemetery run by the district.
State Legislation Cleared the Legal Path
State Lawmakers Back the Project State lawmakers have also voiced support for the cemetery project.
California's 2026-27 fiscal year budget separately earmarked $19 million for the cemetery, including $9 million for an access road and $10 million for preliminary plans, per the mynewsla.com report.
CalVet Cites Readiness, Offers No Detailed Explanation
Despite all that alignment, the California Department of Veterans Affairs has said it was not ready to take possession of the property, according to mynewsla.com's reporting. Correa criticized the lack of a specific explanation for the delay, saying CalVet dismissed a rare bipartisan effort to help veterans.
State Sen. Don Wagner said CalVet needs to take possession of the property and that he did not understand why the department had not done so already. Wagner also warned that if the $10 million in construction funding is lost, the state or county would have to replace it, per the same report.
A County With No Cemetery of Its Own
The urgency is rooted in scale: Orange County is home to approximately 84,235 veterans, representing 7.3% of California's entire veteran population, according to the County of Orange. Of those veterans, 36.8% served during the Vietnam War era and 24.0% served post-9/11, the county's FY 2023-2024 Veterans in Orange County Report found. Despite that population, Orange County currently lacks any state or national veterans cemetery of its own.
Phase-one development at Gypsum Canyon is estimated at $126 million, according to OCMI Inc. and the Orange County Cemetery District. Correa said Orange County veterans deserve respect and burial in their own county — a sentiment that has drawn bipartisan support even as the land transfer itself remains stalled.
CalVet's operational ties to Orange County veterans are otherwise active: between July 2024 and June 2025, the Orange County Veterans Service Office connected more than 310 local veterans to mental health, housing and legal services using a state grant administered by CalVet, according to Voice of OC. That outreach program earned a 2025 National Association of Counties Achievement Award. For now, whether CalVet will formally accept the land and the federal grant by calendar year-end remains an open question. Correa has criticized the lack of a specific explanation, while Wagner has questioned why CalVet has not taken possession.
