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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Energy | Environment
The California Natural Resources Agency has opened a competitive $9.2 million funding round for tribal land acquisition and climate resilience projects — part of California’s push to return ancestral lands and finance tribally led conservation.
The 2026 Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Climate Bond solicitation will support fee title acquisitions benefiting California Native American tribes, including purchases of property, conservation easements and water rights or instream flows, according to the program’s final guidelines. The funding is being distributed as competitive grants backed by the state’s Climate Bond, also known as Proposition 4, which voters approved to finance environmental and climate initiatives statewide.
Eligible projects must include an ancestral land return component paired with planning or implementation of multi-benefit nature-based solutions, such as habitat restoration, prescribed fire, watershed improvements or tribal workforce development. The program prioritizes projects that reconnect checkerboarded lands, improve habitat connectivity, restore access to cultural resources or traditional foods and demonstrate secured partial funding to complete acquisitions at fair market value, according to the grant guidelines.
Ancestral land return awards carry a $1 million minimum, with no maximum beyond available funds. There is no match requirement, though projects with committed state, federal, tribal or philanthropic capital will score more competitively.
A limited portion of funding is reserved for “escrow-ready” acquisitions that can move quickly. Those projects must enter into grant agreements by March 31, 2027, close escrow by July 30, 2027, and complete expenditures by Jan. 1, 2029.
Geneva E. B. Thompson, deputy secretary of tribal affairs at the California Natural Resources Agency, said the solicitation underscores the state’s commitment to tribal sovereignty and self-determination, calling it “a meaningful opportunity” for tribes to advance ancestral land return and climate solutions grounded in traditional knowledge and community priorities.
Step 1 applications are due April 15 through CNRA’s portal. Awards are expected to be announced Nov. 23, 2026.
