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Land return

California Tribal Nature-Based Solutions land return program

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

California's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions program funds tribal land returns; its 2024 awards supported about 38,950 acres.

Nation
California tribes
Where
California
Acres
40,575
Status
Ongoing program

What happened

California's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions grant program pays for tribes to take back ancestral land and to run restoration projects. Governor Newsom's office announced on April 26, 2024 that the state had awarded more than $100 million for 33 tribal land projects, funded in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 state budgets. The grants can be used for ancestral land return, habitat restoration, wildfire resilience and implementation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

A state wildfire task force page summarizing the awards says the California Natural Resources Agency, with CAL FIRE and the Ocean Protection Council, awarded $107.7 million to fund 33 projects and support the return of approximately 38,950 acres to California Native American tribes.

The governor's release says early funding went to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to acquire 10,395 acres of forested property. Tribal leaders quoted in it describe the aim as stewardship. Chairman Kevin Osuna of the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel said the tribe looks forward to welcoming the public to its ancestral homelands.

A statewide total of 40,574.94 acres has been attributed to a 2026 Natural Resources Agency release about the Mechoopda Tribe's purchase. A local news summary says the program had awarded funding for nearly 39,000 acres.

Good to know. The 38,950 acres are acres the 2024 grants funded, not necessarily acres already returned. A later statewide total of 40,574.94 acres is also cited.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Thinly sourced: read the sources and cautions before relying on this.

  1. the state has awarded more than $100 million for 33 tribal land projectsA Step Towards Healing and Restoration (Governor of California, Apr. 26, 2024)
  2. awarded $107.7 million to fund 33 projects and support the return of approximately 38,950 acres of land to California Native American tribesNearly 39,000 Acres of Land Returned to California Tribes (California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force)
  3. went to the Hoopa Valley Tribe to acquire 10,395 acres of forested propertyA Step Towards Healing and Restoration (Governor of California, Apr. 26, 2024)
  4. awarded $107.7 million to assist with the return of nearly 39,000 acres to multiple tribesChico Tribe Reclaims 450 Acres in Big Chico Creek Comeback (Hoodline, June 9, 2026)

Research notes. The 40,574.94 acres statewide figure could not be confirmed; the state's own pages that were opened give about 38,950 acres in the April 2024 awards, which are acres funded, not necessarily returned, so the two are different measures. The Natural Resources Agency page was blocked to automated fetching. Hoodline is a local aggregator.

Who is doing the work

Working with these nations

Land return and Native-led work nearby

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Connections

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Nations named 1

Located in 1

Responds to 1

Supported by 1

Sources

  1. resources.ca.gov/Newsroom/Page-Content/News-List/Mechoopda-Indian-Tribe-Reclaims-450-Acresself-description
Kind
Land return
Confidence
Medium
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

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