Four-year Partnership with Washoe Tribe Results in Largest Indigenous Land Return in Sierra History
Today we are celebrating a joyous, long-awaited moment: the return of 10,274 acres in the Northern Sierra to the ownership and care of the Washoe people.
The new Waší·šiw Land Trust is acquiring a vast landscape northeast of Lake Tahoe and roughly 20 miles north of Reno in the homelands of the wélmeltiɁ (Northern Washoe people). Formerly called Loyalton Ranch, the new WélmeltiɁ Preserve spans the mountain range from Long Valley in the east to Sierra Valley in the west and includes a rich mosaic of wildlife habitat. The land transitions from sagebrush scrub and grasslands to conifer forests, aspen groves, and mountain meadows, with pine and juniper woodlands, springs, and perennial creeks.
The Preserve is largely surrounded by public lands managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Pronghorn, mule deer, mountain lion, and gray wolf range through the landscape, migrating from winter habitat in the east to summer habitat in the west. The land also supports plants of cultural importance to the Washoe people, including pinyon pine, a vital, traditional food source that has suffered extensive damage from recent wildfires across the Washoe homelands.
The restoration of this spectacular landscape to Washoe ownership and care is long overdue and starts to address the incredible violence of Indigenous displacement in the Sierra Nevada. “First Wá∙šiw people were forcefully removed from these lands,” said Washoe Tribe Chairman Serrell Smokey. “[Then] individual allotments [provided to families] were stolen….[and] we were told we could no longer use the land for resources, or ceremony. Since that time the land has been calling us back, and we are answering that call. This land purchase is good medicine for our people. This is a small start to healing from generations of historical trauma, and the benefits will go on for many generations to come.”
The Northern Sierra Partnership (NSP) and the Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) began working with the Washoe Tribe in 2021 to plan this historic land return project. After getting the property under contract in late 2023, the partners sponsored a tribal-led visioning process to clarify priorities for the property’s future use. After visiting the property over several weeks, Tribal members came back with clear guidance: the Tribe should acquire the land and engage elders and tribal youth in its restoration using traditional ecological practices and knowledge. The Washoe people would heal the land, and the land would heal the people.
To date, the partners have worked together to raise $6.9 million to advance the project. This includes $5.5 million in public funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board and $1.4 million in donations from private funders, including The 11th Hour Project, Wildlife Conservation Network, March Conservation Fund and the Spaht Family Foundation, among others.
NSP, FRLT and the Washoe Tribe would like to thank the Wildlife Conservation Board for their commitment this historic land return project. The Wildlife Conservation Board’s leadership on this acquisition was absolutely critical to its success.
The WélmeltiɁ Preserve is now owned by the Waší·šiw Land Trust, a Washoe-led nonprofit dedicated to returning ancestral lands to the Washoe People of Nevada and California. NSP, FRLT and the Waší·šiw Land Trust will continue to collaborate on this and other projects post-acquisition. A key part of that work is to raise another $2 million to steward the property, develop more detailed plans for future uses, and launch the land trust.
It has truly been an honor to work with the Washoe Tribe and our partners at the Feather River Land Trust on this historic land back project.
To find out how you can support the project, please contact Lucy at lblake@northernsierrapartnership.org.
Photo credit: West Side © Elizabeth Carmel | Pronghorn © Andy Wright, Lighthawk Photography | East Side © Elizabeth Carmel | Pinyon Pine © Elizabeth Carmel | East Side © Elizabeth Carmel | West Side © Elizabeth Carmel