Pacific Forest Trust

What happened

Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is a San Francisco land trust that says it has worked since 1993 to conserve private forests in California, Oregon and Washington. It is not Indigenous-led. Its staff page lists Laurie A. Wayburn as co-founder and president. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer lists it as a 501(c)(3) with its exemption issued in September 1993.

PFT's own blog reports a land return. The nearly 900-acre Henness Ridge property sits between Yosemite National Park and Sierra National Forest. PFT says it bought the land to prevent development, and that in 2014 it transferred part of the property to the park. When Congress did not support adding the rest to the park, PFT says it asked the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation whether the nation would like to own it. PFT says the transfer to the Nation was completed in November 2025 with funding from the California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program.

The post quotes Sandra Chapman, Tribal Council Chair of the Nation, calling the land "a sanctuary for our people." PFT says it supports the Nation's effort to gain federal recognition, which PFT says the Nation has pursued since 1982.

PFT does not say whether the transfer was a gift or a sale to the Nation, or what the Nation paid.

Good to know. A non-Indigenous land trust; the return is its own report, and it does not say whether the land was a gift or a sale.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error