This fog-shrouded patch of coastal forest in the heart of Yurok Country was tended by the tribe for millennia. … Now, as the land heals from the scars of a long-running lumber mill, it has been returned to its original stewards, who will operate it as a public gateway to Redwood National and State Parks about 50 miles south of the Oregon border. … The announcement comes as California’s most populous Indigenous nation works to reclaim its homelands, a mission inscribed in its constitution. The Yurok Tribe has so far regained 60,000 acres — about 12% — of its 500,000-acre ancestral territory, which stretches along the North Coast and the Klamath River. … Prairie Creek [is] key habitat for coho salmon, which are federally protected in this portion of California. The stream has the potential to be particularly productive because its headwaters are already protected under the jurisdiction of Redwood National and State Parks.