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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Real Estate
The Tule River Indian Tribe has regained 17,030 acres of ancestral land in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Central Valley, expanding its reservation to more than 72,000 acres.
The acquisition was facilitated by The Conservation Fund and funded through state conservation programs and private philanthropic partners, according to the California Natural Resources Agency. The land includes the former Hershey and Carothers ranches.
“This land return demonstrates the very essence of tribal land restoration,” said Lester R. Nieto Jr. ‘Shine,’ chairman of the Tule River Tribal Council. “The tribe envisions this land located in the Yowlumne Hills as a place to gather, heal and simply be.”
The returned land encompasses much of the middle Deer Creek watershed, one of the last undammed waterways in the southern Sierra Nevada. The tribes — whose reservation once spanned more than 91,000 acres — plans to restore the area to reconnect landscapes between the Giant Sequoia National Monument, the Tule River Reservation and San Joaquin Valley wetlands.
In partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the tribe reintroduced tule elk that have been absent from the foothills for decades. Last year, the tribe and CDFW also partnered to reintroduce beavers into the area. The partnership will also sustain the recovery of the California condor and protect important habitat.
“Tule elk have been returned to their historic range, beavers have been returned to their historic range, and the California condor’s historic range will be protected,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham.
State officials say the land return is expected to improve groundwater recharge, reduce flood risks and secure water supplies for disadvantaged communities downstream in the San Joaquin-Tulare region.
Gov. Gavin Newsom described the return and elk reintroduction as a step toward repairing California’s relationship with the tribe.
