'O Rew Redwoods Gateway returned to Yurok Tribe

What happened

The Yurok Tribe's own announcement, dated July 28, 2026, says Save the Redwoods League transferred 125 acres of land in the heart of Yurok ancestral territory back to the Tribe. The League conveyed the property on June 30, 2026. The 'O Rew Redwoods Gateway is a tribally owned and operated recreational area on Prairie Creek, a Redwood Creek tributary off U.S. Highway 101 in Orick, at the southern end of Redwood National and State Parks. It was set to open for recreational access on August 1, 2026.

The announcement describes how the land got here. The League bought the property in 2013 intending to restore a severely degraded stretch of Prairie Creek. It had been covered by 20 acres of asphalt from a former lumber mill and an 80-acre cattle pasture. A five-year restoration began in 2021, built by the Yurok Tribe Construction Corporation and Yurok Fisheries Department, with a one-mile braided channel and nearly half a million native seedlings planted. The release does not state a price or whether money changed hands.

The Tribe says what it intends. It plans to host public and private events, to build a cultural center, and to build a traditional village on the site with plank houses and a sweat house. Chairman Joseph L. James said the project represents a truly just approach to restoring culturally important landscapes. Yurok Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer Rosie Clayburn Katri said the mill was once a source of conflict and is now a point of pride and a place where Yurok people feel welcome.

Good to know. The announcement does not say whether this was a gift or a sale.

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