Largest land back deal in California history: 47,000 acres returned to Yurok Tribe
California returns ancestral Yurok lands
After a years-long effort that cost millions of dollars, the Yurok Tribe has reclaimed ownership of roughly 73 square miles of land along the lower Klamath river.
OAKLAND, Calif. - After more than two decades and millions of dollars, the Yurok Tribe today has regained control of its ancestral lands.
In the largest land back conservation deal in California's history, the Indigenous tribe took ownership of roughly 73 square miles of forest land along the Klamath River. The Yurok spent 23 years working to reclaim the land, and spent $56 million in the process.
"Reacquiring landscapes like this allows us to heal, to work towards healing a wound that was inflicted not only on the land but on our hearts when these lands were taken away from us," Tiana Williams-Claussen, Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department Director, told KTVU.
The 47,000-acre parcel of land doubles the tribe's land holdings, and includes salmon habitats and areas with cultural and spiritual significance for the tribe.
The Yurok in 2009 partnered with Western Rivers Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that works to buy land along rivers across the western United States in an effort to conserve habitats for fish and wildlife.
The United States took control of 90% of Yurok land during the California gold rush, which lasted from 1848 to 1855.
A larger movement
Big picture view:
The return of the Yurok's ancestral lands is part of a larger, nationwide movement spearheaded by Indigenous communities that advocates for the transfer of land stewardship back to its original inhabitants.
Over the course of a decade, nearly 3 million acres in 15 states were consolidated and returned to Indigenous tribes through the federal Land Buy-Back Program.
"The checkerboard system of land ownership on many reservations historically left communities and landowners unable to make basic decisions about their homelands, then-Secretary of Interior Deb Halaand said in a 2023 press release about the program. "The Land Buy-Back Program's progress puts the power back in the hands of Tribal communities to determine how their lands are used — from conservation to economic development projects."
The return of native lands has led to greater recognition that Indigenous peoples have traditional knowledge vital to addressing climate change. Multiple studies have found that the most resilient, healthiest and most biodiverse forests are on protected native lands stewarded by Indigenous people.