MENDOCINO Co., 3/19/23 — This week, tribal representatives, land trusts, and universities will meet at Cal Poly Humboldt for the first Northern California LandBack Symposium, to highlight efforts around “universities & land returns, land trusts, public and private land return,” and facilitate “interactive legal and funding discussions” about land transfers in the region, according to an announcement by Save California Salmon. The day-long free event is the first of its kind, and takes place on Friday, March 24 at the Goodwin Forum, on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus in Arcata, and will be cohosted by the university’s Native American Studies Department.
There have been numerous land transfers to tribal governments or stewardship agreements put in place across the North Coast in the last several years, and the symposium will feature reports on some of these efforts, as well as a red paper outlining policy and legal recommendations, which will be made available to attendees, the public, and sent to lawmakers. In Mendocino County, these include the 172-acre property known as “Blues Beach” which was transferred through state legislation to co-ownership by several local tribes and a 523-acre parcel known as “Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ” that will be managed by the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. In Humboldt County, that includes the transfer of Tulawat Island to the Wiyot Tribe in 2019, and 1200 acres of federal land transferred by legislation this January to the Karuk Tribe.
“LandBack is a proven strategy for building climate resilience and addressing some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the State of California and beyond,” states Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Native American Studies Department Chair, in the event announcement. “When we return land to Indigenous peoples we see increases in biodiversity, healthy waters and fish populations, and other positive benefits. The symposium is an opportunity for ongoing community conversations and a tangible way to respond to ongoing calls for restorative land return to Indigenous nations.”
The full announcement and event details can be found below:
Here’s the announcement:
Arcata, Ca – Next week, Save California Salmon and Cal Poly Humboldt’s Native American Studies Department will be hosting the Northern California LandBack Symposium on Friday, March 24, 2023, at the Goodwin Forum at Cal Poly Humboldt. This first-of-its-kind free event will take place from 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and feature Tribal and State leaders, university representatives, foundations, NGOs, land trusts, and lawyers working to return land to Northern California tribes and tribal land trusts.
“LandBack is a proven strategy for building climate resilience and addressing some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the State of California and beyond,” explained Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Native American Studies Department Chair. “When we return land to Indigenous peoples we see increases in biodiversity, healthy waters and fish populations, and other positive benefits. The symposium is an opportunity for ongoing community conversations and a tangible way to respond to ongoing calls for restorative land return to Indigenous nations.”
The Symposium will focus on areas such as universities & land returns, land trusts, public and private land return, and will host interactive legal and funding discussions. The Mechoopda, Yurok, Hoopa Valley, and Karuk Tribes will speak about their experience with private, federal, and university lands returned to their Tribes. Indigenous land trusts such as the Sogorea te’ Land Trust, Maidu Summit Consortium, and Siskiyou Intertribal Wilderness Coalition will speak to their experience facilitating land return to multiple federally recognized and unrecognized tribes.
A LandBack Red Paper will be made available to the public at the Symposium, outlining policy and legal recommendations that will be made to state and federal governments and lawmakers following the conference.