Placer Land Trust is committed to protecting and caring for land in a way that is inclusive and equitable. One way to do that is by working with our local Native American Tribes, who have a long and deep relationship to these lands. We know that the protected lands in our care are the ancestral lands of several Tribes who were unjustly treated and had lands forcibly seized. While we can’t change the past, today we can partner with local Tribes to facilitate their connection to land and to help address this injustice.
And just in time for Native American Heritage Month, we are excited to share some new collaborative projects that we are working on with the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe (CTVCT) of the Colfax Rancheria!
CAL FIRE recently awarded a $1.3 million grant to Placer Land Trust to fund the purchase of a 308-acre property along Owl Creek in Foresthill. This forested preserve will be owned by the Tribe through its affiliated nonprofit, Koy’o Land Conservancy, with Placer Land Trust holding the conservation easement to protect the land forever.
Placer Land Trust and the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe share a commitment to protect natural lands in our region. In April 2022, we transferred ownership of Yo’ Dok’im Pakan – Gerjuoy North Fork Preserve to the Tribe’s Koy’o Land Conservancy. The Tribe is comprised of Nisenan, Maidu and Miwok people of the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills of Placer County, and considers this land to be part of its ancestral homelands. This ongoing partnership reflects our shared values of protecting vital landscapes and honoring our local Tribes’ deep cultural ties to the land.
In addition to this new land protection project, we are also excited to partner with the Tribe to share resources and equipment to help us more efficiently steward our protected lands. Placer Land Trust and the Tribe recently received a grant from the Rose Foundation to fund the purchase of a trailer and tools for bringing good fire back to the land. In addition to equipment to be shared by our two organizations, this project will include cultural burns and related land management and restoration.
The grant also includes funding for the Tribe to lead a cultural burn training for conservation-focused nonprofits and agencies based in Placer County. Support for Restoration through Good Fire was provided by the Center for Biological Diversity and administered by the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment.
