Tribe to acquire 40,000 acres of ‘absolutely beautiful’ ancestral land in Northern California
… The Quartz Valley Indian Reservation, a group of about 400 Native Americans whose ancestors once lived throughout the remote border region, was awarded a $25 million loan from the state this week to buy the Scott Valley property. … As a condition of the loan from the State Water Resources Control Board, the tribe will help restore the land, which is part of a watershed seen as crucial to the health of theKlamath River Basin. … [T]he land encompasses the creeks that give rise to the Scott River, a salmon-rich tributary of the Klamath River, long central to Native American tradition. In recent decades, the Scott River has gotten increasingly low, the result of drought, warming temperatures and agricultural water diversions — a problem that has prompted state water restrictions and ongoing controversy over water management.
Other Klamath River Basin news:
- Active NorCal (Redding, Calif.): California just funded the second largest tribal land return in state history, and it’s in Siskiyou County
- Active NorCal (Redding, Calif.): Rafting the Klamath this summer? One stretch now comes with a wait
- Herald and News (Klamath Falls, Ore.): Opinion: Restoring salmon does same to Klamath ecosystem
- State Water Resources Control Board: News release: With Water Board funding, tribe to regain nearly 40,000 acres of ancestral lands in Klamath River Basin
