Klamath Indigenous Land Trust purchases 10,000 acres as salmon return
LEE JUILLERAT For the Herald and News Jan 2, 2026

The purchase of 10,000 acres in and around the Klamath River’s former reservoir reach by the Yurok Tribe is being celebrated by other tribes, including the Klamath Tribes.
   With the return of salmon to the headwaters of the Klamath River for the first time in more than a century, the newly formed Klamath Indigenous Land Trust and PacifiCorp announced the purchase of 10,000 acres in and around the river’s former reservoir reach. The deal is one of the largest private land purchases by an Indigenous-led land trust in U.S. history.
   “Dam removal allowed the salmon to return home. Returning these lands to Indigenous care ensures that home will be a place where they can flourish and recover,” said Molli Myers (Karuk), president of the Klamath Indigenous Land Trust board of directors, in a news release. “Our communities spent generations fighting for this moment and we honor our ancestors who carried this vision forward. The healing that’s underway is real, and this acquisition reflects the future we’re building together as People of the Klamath Basin.”
   “This is the next chapter in the Klamath River’s renewal,” said Jeff Mitchell, the Klamath Tribes former chairman who is currently the culture and heritage chairman. “It’s proof that Indigenous leadership and community partnerships can achieve transformational change at a landscape scale.”
   PacifiCorp, the former landowner, partnered with the land trust to complete the sale following a decades-long effort to remove four Klamath River dams, which was completed in 2024. The purchase includes lands upstream of and adjacent to the former hydropower project that are considered critical to the river’s long-term health and its fisheries. The transfer places stewardship of the land under Indigenous values and ecological restoration goals for the first time in more than a century.
   “PacifiCorp is gratified to see these lands transition to a stewardship model that honors their cultural and ecological significance,” said Pacific Power President Ryan Flynn, the PacifiCorp division serving customers in California, Oregon and Washington. “We recognize the leadership of the Klamath Basin Tribes and KILT in shaping a restoration vision that will benefit the entire region.”
   The Klamath Indigenous Land Trust was formed by leaders from four Klamath Basin Tribes who began working together after a massive fish kill in 2002. Since then, the Trust has been leading efforts to remove the dams and restore salmon runs.
   The Karuk Tribe received funding from various sources for Klamath River restoration efforts, but, according to reports, “it’s difficult to provide an exact total of how much money they’ve been ‘paid’ due to the nature of grants and collaborative projects.”
    The reports note the Karuk Tribe has received financial funding for projects from a variety of sources. According to the Tribe, it requested $16,351,006 for five shovel-ready restoration projects and, in collaboration with the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes, the Karuk Tribe is receiving a $3.9 million grant through the Bureau of Reclamation for a “Juvenile Salmonid Survival and Migration Rate Study on the Klamath, Scott, Salmon, and Trinity rivers.”
    In 2023, the Karuk Tribe was awarded $1.5 million from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for geological and hydro assessments, project planning, and the construction of a “nature-based fish passage channel” connecting Little Springs Creek to Little Springs Lake. Previously, in 2005, the Tribe received a $3 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to reduce wildfire risk.
   As part of a collaborative effort, the Karuk Tribe said it is a “key partner” in the Klamath River Fund, which has grown to nearly $12 million. The fund’s goal is to “support community-led climate resilience and restorative justice work in the Klamath Basin.”
   “We are from different Tribes and we each have our own cultural traditions, but it was through working together and by bringing Tribal People from all over the Basin together that created this moment,” said Wendy Ferris-George (Hupa/Karuk), vice president of the KILT board.
   With the acquisition complete, the land trust plans to develop comprehensive land management plans with input from area tribes. The plans will focus on habitat recovery, protection of cultural resources, fire management and public access.
   Funding for the purchase was provided by the Catena Foundation, the Community Foundation of New Jersey and an anonymous donor. It is also emphasized that the lands involved in the purchase are not the lands held by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation for the purpose of dam removal and restoration, which are often referred to as the ‘Parcel B’ lands.
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Klamath Tribes clarify position on land acquisition

In response to the announcement of the Klamath Indigenous Land Trust (KILT) acquisition of 10,000 acres, the Klamath Tribes said in a news release they “wish to clarify recent media coverage regarding land transactions in the Klamath Basin.”

According to the release, “References to ‘Klamath Basin Tribes’ or ‘Klamath River Tribes’ are confusing and do not accurately represent the unique, political and legal status of the individual tribal nations within the Klamath River Basin.”

The release notes, “Since 1909 the Klamath Tribes have fought for the return of c’iyaal’s (salmon) to our ancestral territory and have spearheaded major restoration efforts on acquired land. Every generation of Klamath Tribal leaders have fought for the return of the c’iyaal’s. The Klamath Tribes are the only treaty tribe completely severed from c’iyaal’s by the dams and have suffered great harm for over 100 years, since 1909, abrogating the treaty rights. In the Upper Klamath Watershed, the Klamath Tribes are still unable to fish for c’iyaal’s and two dams remain within the Klamath Tribes ancestral territory.”

In a statement, Klamath Tribes Chairman William E. Ray Jr., said, “The Klamath Tribes understand how important it is to return lands to tribal governments or indigenous-led organizations.”

The release notes that the Klamath Tribes are a “federally recognized sovereign nation with court affirmed, treaty-based rights and operate a distinct government separate from other Klamath Basin tribes. Referencing the Klamath Tribes under a geographic umbrella label fails to recognize and minimizes the ratified Treaty of 1864 held by the Klamath Tribes.”

According to the statement, “While the Klamath Tribes support ecological restoration and c’iyaal’s recovery efforts, it is important to distinguish between environmental stewardship and the return of land to tribal governance. The land referenced in recent reporting is held by a private nonprofit land trust, not by the Klamath Tribes as a sovereign government. That distinction has significant implications regarding jurisdiction, accountability, and protection of treaty rights and resources.

“The Klamath Tribes,” the statement says, “understand the importance of land protection and long-term stewardship rooted in tribal governance. The Tribes support land return and believe that lands held by tribal governments are more durably protected, consistent with sustainable treaty resource stewardship principles, and are more responsibly stewarded to safeguard land and water for the benefit of all than lands held in private ownership. As a treaty rights tribe, the Klamath Tribes encourage that, should these lands change ownership in the future, the Tribes be provided the opportunity to acquire them.