Nearly 900 acres of land on Yosemite border returned to tribe forced out 175 years ago

In the s miners settlers and soldiers violently drove them out of the Yosemite area during the Gold Rush Now years later the Southern Sierra Miwuks descendants have begun to reclaim specific of the land back Related Articles It s snow time Here s what to expect in the - ski season Climbing star dies in fall from Yosemite s El Capitan Yosemite other national parks to stay partially open but with programs and services limited during shutdown Hikers near Yosemite hunker down and call for help as bullets whiz by Visit a national park for free on Saturday Sept Last week the tribe based in Mariposa closed a deal to purchase acres of scenic forests and steep outcroppings along Yosemite National Park s western dividing line Sold by the Pacific Forest Trust an environmental group based in San Francisco the landscape near the intersection of Wawona Road and Glacier Point Road includes groves of incense cedar white fir and sugar pine trees with breathtaking views from Henness Ridge across the Sierra Nevada foothills and the Merced River Having this key piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our public together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren stated Sandra Chapman tribal council chairwoman of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation It will be a sanctuary for our people The deal is the latest example of a growing trend in California tribes working with environmental groups and state agencies to recover lands lost generations ago sometimes acquiring their first territory since the th or th centuries Funding for the million sale was provided to the tribe by the California Natural Materials Agency as part of a state effort that helps tribes acquire land The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation a native tribe that lived in the Yosemite area for thousands of years until being pushed out in the s purchased acres along the Yosemite National Park's western boundary at Henness Ridge on Dec from the Pacific Forest Trust a San Francisco environmental group for million This is the view from the property looking north toward Yosemite Valley Photo Pacific Forest Trust The previous owner the Pacific Forest Trust purchased majority of the land in from a family that had owned it since The property which only has one house on it was zoned for construction of up to ranchettes Logged for decades it was intended to expand Yosemite National Park to the original boundaries that conservation pioneer John Muir founder of the Sierra Club had proposed in the s when he advocated for Congress to first establish the park The expansion of the park to add the property was supported by the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors the superintendent of Yosemite and other leaders But it never became part of Yosemite National Park The transfer was blocked by U S Rep Tom McClintock R-El Dorado Hills McClintock commented at the time that he didn t trust the National Park Provision to be a good steward McClintock s district includes broad expanses of the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park McClintock is one of a number of conservative Western Republicans who for years has opposed nearly every effort to expand federal land holdings in the West preferring it be held in private ownership for cattle ranching logging mining and other uses When is enough enough he stated in a speech on the House floor in The constituents good is not served by the mindless and endless acquisition of property at the expense of the sustainable use of our natural guidance responsible stewardship of our general lands and the freedom and property rights of our citizens Demanded in about the property McClintock announced There is considerable resistance in the House and in my district to the acquisition of additional federal land without clear assurances that it will be properly managed and that masses access and recreation will be guaranteed Parts of the property burned in the Ferguson Fire The Pacific Forest Trust replanted native trees to help restore it and began conversations on a likely sale with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation which has about members and a presence in the Yosemite area dating back thousands of years It was a compelling opportunity to provide land to the tribe and provide the park a good neighbor and steward revealed Laurie Wayburn president of the Pacific Forest Trust It underpins a cultural revival in concert with the land In the end it s an even more fitting outcome Under the deal the state retained a deed restriction that prohibits enhancement on the land and language that calls for continued restoration of the property with projects such as controlled burns We will be able to harvest and cultivate our traditional foods fibers and medicines and steward the land using traditional ecological knowledge reported Tara Fouch-Moore the Miwuks tribal secretary As the tribe s private property the land will not be open to the general inhabitants unless the tribe decides over time to allow it Since its founding in the Pacific Forest Trust has preserved more than acres in California Oregon and Washington Wayburn the group s co-founder is the daughter of Edgar Wayburn the former five-time national president of the Sierra Club who helped lead efforts in the s and s to establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area enlarge Redwood National Park and pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act which President Jimmy Carter signed in That law doubled the size of America s national park system expanded Denali Katmai and Glacier Bay national parks and established vast new national parks including Wrangell-St Elias Gates of the Arctic and Kenai Fjords Edgar Wayburn was close friends with photographer Ansel Adams whose black-and-white photos of Yosemite rank among its majority of iconic images Even though her organization held the Yosemite-area property for years through various ups and downs Laurie Wayburn described the final effect as very rewarding It s a joyous moment she stated This is a wonderful outcome for the land and the people The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation a native tribe that lived in the Yosemite area for thousands of years until being pushed out in the s purchased acres along the Yosemite National Park's western boundary at Henness Ridge on Dec from the Pacific Forest Trust a San Francisco environmental group for million Photo Pacific Forest Trust