The tribe acquired 10,395 acres to the northwest of their reservation in Humboldt County. The tribe purchased the land for $14.1 million from an Australia-based forestland manager, New Forests.
“We have gotten other portions back at times but this is by far the largest reacquisition of our aboriginal territory that we’ve ever had,” said Tribal Chairman Joe Davis.
This acquisition brings the tribe’s landholdings to over 102,000 acres. Davis said it took the tribe around two years to purchase the land. It was funded by a group of state agencies and other non-profits, including the California Natural Resources Agency, the Wyss Foundation and the Resources Legacy Fund.
They worked with the nonprofit group The Conservation Fund to negotiate the deal. Davis said the tribe had tried to purchase the land once they heard it went up for sale, but those negotiations failed and it went up for auction.
“We were actually the only bidder,” said Davis. “We had initially bid somewhere around $12 to $13 million.”
Davis said after further negotiations, the two sides settled on $14.1 million for the land. Acquiring this land is important for their conservation efforts, Davis said.
“Not only is it an opportunity for us to have the land and manage and use it as we see fit,” he said. “But it also prevents other parties from coming in and causing harm to the landscape and the natural resources that we hold sacred.”
Davis said they will work on habitat restoration as well as fighting sudden oak death, which affects their acorn crop and creates dangerous wildfire conditions.
Davis said the watersheds and ecosystems are still really important for the Hupa people.
“We still rely on that a lot,” he said. “Whether that be for our fishery, which is of the utmost importance, gathering plants and other food sources such as acorns which were historically a staple food for people.”
Tribal wildlife managers have plans to rebuild the elk population – a traditional food source – by building and restoring high-elevation meadows.
Davis estimates the tribe lost around four-fifths of their ancestral territory when they were moved onto the reservation, so they continue to look for more opportunities to reacquire their land.
