Tule River Tribe reclaims 17,030 acres in Yowlumne Hills

What happened

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office announced on October 29, 2025 the return of 17,030 acres of ancestral land to the Tule River Indian Tribe. The release calls it the largest ancestral land return in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Central Valley region. A land return and tule elk reintroduction ceremony was held that day.

The release says the work was done in partnership with the Tribe, the California Natural Resources Agency, the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and was facilitated by The Conservation Fund. It was funded through the Natural Resources Agency's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions grant program, the Wildlife Conservation Board's Habitat Conservation Fund and private philanthropic partners. The release does not name the seller or the price. It describes the reservation as once spanning over 91,000 acres and today including more than 55,000 acres.

Tule River Tribal Council Chairman Leister "Shine" R. Nieto Jr. said the return expands access to food and medicinal resources, supports preservation of cultural sites, deepens environmental stewardship and restores wildlife reintroduction. He said the Tribe envisions the land, in the Yowlumne Hills, as a place to gather, heal and simply be. In partnership with the state wildlife department the Tribe will reintroduce tule elk, which have been absent from the foothills for decades.

High Country News also lists the October 2025 return of 17,030 acres in the Central Valley among California's recent land returns.

Good to know. The state's announcement does not name the seller or price, or say whether the land is held in trust.

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