Land return
Mechoopda regain 450 acres in Big Chico Creek watershed
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
The Mechoopda Tribe reportedly took back about 450 acres beside the Big Chico Creek watershed in June 2026, per one local report.
- Nation
- Mechoopda (Maidu)
- Where
- Butte County, California
- Acres
- 450
- Began
- 2026
- Status
- Returned
Where the land is
This land was returned inside Land of the Bat-si, Che-no and others in California, ceded 1851 (area 291), which the United States treated as ceded under California Treaty G: Bidwell's Ranch, Chico Creek, 1851 (unratified), a treaty the Senate never ratified.
Location from resources.ca.gov.
What happened
The Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria in Butte County, California, has reportedly taken back roughly 450 acres of its ancestral land. Hoodline, a local news aggregator, reported on June 9, 2026, citing Action News Now, that two properties beside the Big Chico Creek watershed and the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve closed in June. The sellers are not named in that report.
The purchase was helped along by California's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions program, an initiative of the California Natural Resources Agency that directs funding to tribal land returns. The Governor's April 2024 announcement describes that program as supporting ancestral land return, restoration and wildfire resilience. Hoodline says state application records showed the tribe originally proposed a broader purchase of about 658 acres from several willing sellers, and that the 450 acres appear to be an initial closing within that larger plan.
Hoodline reports that tribal leaders cast the deal as a return of stewardship to Mechoopda ancestors, not just a real estate transaction. It also notes that in 2022 California State University, Chico's nonprofit returned the 93-acre Butte Creek Ecological Preserve to the tribe.
Good to know. This rests on one local news report; the 450 acres may be a first step toward a proposed 658 acres.
Summarized with AI assistance from 5 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.
the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria has taken back roughly 450 acres of its ancestral land
Chico Tribe Reclaims 450 Acres in Big Chico Creek Comeback (Hoodline, June 9, 2026)Tribal leaders cast the deal as a return of stewardship to Mechoopda ancestors, not just a real estate transaction
Chico Tribe Reclaims 450 Acres in Big Chico Creek Comeback (Hoodline, June 9, 2026)California State University, Chico transferred 93 acres in Big Chico Creek Canyon to the tribe
Chico Tribe Reclaims 450 Acres in Big Chico Creek Comeback (Hoodline, June 9, 2026)grants can be used for ancestral land return, restoration, workforce development
A Step Towards Healing and Restoration (Governor of California, Apr. 26, 2024)escrow officially closed on May 5
Mechoopda Tribe Land Return (Capital Rivers Commercial)
Research notes. Only Hoodline (an aggregator that itself relays Action News Now) was opened. The California Natural Resources Agency press release the atlas cites was blocked to automated fetching, so the 450-acre figure, the date (closings in June 2026), and sellers are unconfirmed from a primary source. Hoodline notes the project may be part of a larger planned 658-acre purchase. The Governor's 2024 release does not mention the Mechoopda.
Who is doing the work
Working with these nations
- Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
- Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
- Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website
- Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation Nation government About 900 acres returned Dec 2025
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named 1
Located in 1
- Californiasuggested
Policy era 1
Responds to 1
Supported by 1
Sources
- Kind
- Land return
- Confidence
- Medium
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation