10,000 acres of California land bought for $14 million

A Native American tribe has regained a wide swath of rolling forests and rushing streams in Northern California in a landmark $14.1 million deal.

The 10,395-acre Pine Creek Tract in Humboldt County has been acquired by the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the tribe announced Wednesday. The land, around 20 miles northeast of Eureka, borders the western boundary of the tribe’s reservation, and was sold by Australian forest management company New Forests. Alongside other tribes in the region, the Hoopa Valley Tribe say they plan to remove river dams on the Klamath River, restore historic salmon runs and repopulate the meadows and forests with elk.

“Today is a day of intense celebration for our Tribe,” tribe chairman Joe Davis said in a statement. “As a tribal nation that has long led the way in self-governance and self-determination, the Hoopa Valley Tribe worked hard to secure this once-in-a-generation opportunity to reclaim a meaningful portion of our ancestral lands.” The tribe says the forests also provide gathering sites for food and basketry materials.

Unlike most Native American tribes, the Hupa people were not entirely forced off their land in the 19th century. A 1864 treaty recognized 141-square miles of land in Humboldt County as theirs. The return of the ancestral land at Hupa Mountain this week brings the tribe’s landholding to over 102,000 acres.

“There is still a lot of work to do — but we continue to make progress in getting back to where we need to be. There is hope in what we celebrate today,” Davis added. “Managing the land is an integral part of our identity and culture.”

The purchase came from both private funds and public grants, and was organized by the tribe and the nonprofit Conservation Fund, after the Australian landowners put the plot up for sale in 2022, the tribe said. The California State Coastal Conservancy also provided financial support. 

“The Tribe’s reclamation of the Hupa Mountain [property] is a major step toward restoring balance in the region and the state will continue to support efforts like this in the spirit of truth and healing,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement.