California: Governor Newsom announces $44 million for tribal stewardship, salmon recovery and desert protection projects

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Aug 28, 2026

Governor Newsom announces $44 million for tribal stewardship, salmon recovery and desert protection projects

15 projects will protect biodiversity and expand access to nature for Californians

What you need to know: As California continues advancing the goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and coastal waters by 2030, Governor Newsom announces $44 million for tribal stewardship, salmon recovery and desert protection projects. Through this funding, 15 projects across 11 counties will continue protecting California's wildlife and expand public access.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Newsom today announced $44 million for 15 projects across the Golden State that support tribal stewardship, salmon recovery and desert protection, creating a gateway for protecting biodiversity and expanding access to nature for all Californians.

In partnership with the Legislature, these investments further advance the Governor's goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and coastal waters by 2030, globally known as the 30×30 initiative. This includes a core commitment to strengthen tribal partnerships, recognizing tribes as original stewards of California lands and waters.

California doesn't back away from protecting what makes this state so extraordinary. These investments are about standing with tribes and communities, restoring the ecosystems we all depend on, and protecting the natural heritage of generations to come. When we act with purpose and invest in the health of our lands and wildlife, we deliver real, lasting results.

Governor Gavin Newsom

Beaver Creek (AP Ranch): Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve property in Siskiyou County

"Tribal communities across the state emphasize the long-held understanding that it is only through care of this place — the lands, waters, plants and beings — that our communities can thrive in return," said Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari. "Whether it is restoring Native practices to the lands, improving salmon runs and safeguarding eel populations, or expanding protections for desert wildlife, these awards represent Californians' shared commitment to stewarding the abundant biodiversity of the place we all call home."

"These investments protect vital natural places across California, from source waters along our northern border to our great deserts," said California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot. "Conserving these lands protects the natural systems we depend on and preserves a home for animals and plants that contribute to our world-renowned biodiversity. It's another big step toward conserving 30% of our land by 2030 in partnership with tribal communities at a time when public lands are under attack by the federal administration."

Johnson Meadow: Upper Truckee River to its floodplain on the Johnson Meadow property in South Lake Tahoe.

Granted through the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), these awards protect, restore, and enhance the state's natural resources for wildlife and public access. WCB works in partnership with tribes, conservation groups, government agencies, and the people of California to safeguard biodiversity and expand access to nature. Today's funding includes $32 million in voter-approved 2024 Climate Bond dollars intended to restore watersheds, protect wildlife corridors, and expand public access.

Notable projects

• Advancing tribal stewardship: A grant to the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance will fund the purchase of the approximately 80-acre Politsuwi property in Lake County. Located on the ancestral lands of the Robinson Rancheria, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, and Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, the property expands the adjacent EcoCultural Stewardship Training and Demonstration Center. The site will serve as an outdoor learning space for Indigenous-led ecological restoration, protecting oak woodlands, wetlands, and habitat for osprey, black-tailed deer, and native pollinators. The project also expands job training and cultural programs for local tribal communities
• Protecting headwater forests and salmon habitat in Siskiyou County: An $11.5 million grant to The Wildlands Conservancy will fund the purchase of approximately 14,177 acres near Callahan in Siskiyou County, expanding the Beaver Valley Headwaters Preserve (AP Ranch). The project connects more than 20,000 acres of mountain meadows, rivers, and forest habitat to protect Scott River salmon and steelhead runs, secure streamflow, and provide future wildlife-oriented public access. The property provides critical habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead, elk, deer, black bear, mountain lion, and native bird species.
• Restoring streams and fish habitat in the Shasta Valley: A $2.4 million grant to California Trout (CalTrout) will support a joint project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to restore about eight acres of stream and floodplain habitat near Grenada in Siskiyou County. Located near two key Shasta River tributaries, the project will add gravel, plant native vegetation, build beaver dam analogs, and install log and boulder structures to slow water flow. The project is part of a larger 26-mile habitat enhancement effort to improve conditions for coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey, and migratory waterfowl.
• Improving water quality and meadow habitat at Lake Tahoe: A $4 million grant to the Tahoe Resource Conservation District will fund a cooperative meadow restoration project in South Lake Tahoe in partnership with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The project restores 79 acres of mountain meadow along the Upper Truckee River, Lake Tahoe's largest tributary. Crews will restore historical stream channels, repair riverbanks, remove old utility structures, and install a grade-control structure to reduce erosion near Highway 50 while ensuring fish passage for native species, including Lahontan cutthroat trout.
• Expanding desert habitat and wildlife corridors in the Eastern Mojave: A $7.5 million grant to the Mojave Desert Land Trust will help buy approximately 1,093 acres near Yucca Grove in San Bernardino County, permanently conserving private land surrounded by the Mojave National Preserve. Acquiring the private land protects critical habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise, creosote scrub, Joshua tree woodlands, and desert washes. The land will be managed to protect sensitive species, preserve natural wildlife corridors, and prevent development.

Mojave Reserve: Creosote bush scrub and Joshua tree woodland near Yucca Grove in San Bernardino County.

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Restoring and protecting biodiversity

The Newsom administration has continued to protect biodiversity, expand access to nature to all Californians, and strengthen relationships with tribes across the state.

The state has helped restore and rehabilitate ecosystems across the state, including efforts to restore salmon populations and habitats.

• Last June, Governor Newsom announced major progress toward protecting salmon populations and their habitats, with nearly 50% of actions to restore aquatic ecosystems completed since the launch of California's first strategy to protect salmon amid hotter, drier weather in 2024. With administration investments, salmon populations are rebounding and allowing California's commercial and recreational salmon fisheries to reopen for the first time in three years.
• Last April, California's work to restore salmon populations made strong progress — and commercial fishing of ocean salmon resumed for the first time since 2022.
• In November 2025, Governor Newsom also announced repopulation of the salmon in the Klamath River, providing important commercial, recreational, economic, intrinsic, and cultural benefits to fishing communities, California Native American tribes, and the entire state.
• In October 2025, the largest ancestral land return in the Sierra Nevada foothills and the Central Valley restored cultural connections, strengthened tribal sovereignty, and advanced California's 30×30 goals.
• In April 2025, the state worked with local and federal agencies on a historic project to repopulate the North Yuba River with native fish, including salmon, and help protect the state's waterways and ecosystems.
• In June 2024, the Tule River Tribe, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), released a family of seven beavers into the South Fork Tule River watershed for the first time in over a century. This project will have positive impacts on water supply, and improve drought and wildfire resilience.

Bigger picture

In 2019, Governor Newsom issued the first formal apology on behalf of the State of California to California Native American peoples at the future site of the California Indian Heritage Center. In that moment, he also announced the creation of the California Truth and Healing Council, charged with examining the historical relationship between the state and tribal communities and recommending steps toward truth, healing, and repair. Since then, the Council, led by Secretary Snider-Ashtari, has worked with tribal communities to record and better understand the historical relationship between the state and California Native Americans. Through collaborative and consultative work of the Council, the Governor's Office of Tribal Affairs, and tribes across the state, the state has developed a number of programs and initiatives that place tribal partnership at the heart of land conservation, climate resilience, and cultural preservation, such as:

• California Natural Resources Agency's goal to support meaningful and durable tribal stewardship over at least 7.5 million acres of land coastal waters
• Tribal Nature-Based Solutions grant program, which builds on the Governor's direction for state entities to work cooperatively with California Native American tribes to return ancestral lands in excess of state needs to tribal ownership and to support tribes' co‑management of and access to natural lands within a California tribe's ancestral land.
• California State Parks Tribal Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) Program, which establishes agreements with tribes to ensure access and, in some cases, co-management of cultural and natural resources of concern or interest to the tribes within state parks.

In 2020, the Governor directed state agencies to support California tribes' co‑management of and access to natural lands that are within a California tribe's ancestral land and under the ownership or control of the State of California. That directive, paired with record investments to tribes, has enabled California tribes to access and steward forests, rangelands, rivers, and coastline.

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Through the administration's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions grant program, and many other conservation grant programs, the state has awarded over $200 million to fund the return of over 100,000 acres of land to California Native American tribes.

Last month, building on Governor Gavin Newsom's commitment to return ancestral lands and strengthen tribal stewardship, the state was nearing completion of a multi-year effort to return 136 acres of Blies County Bluffs in Mendocino County to tribal ownership through Kai Poma, a nonprofit established by three local Native American tribes with ancestral ties to the region.

For more information about WCB, visit wcb.ca.gov. To explore the newly funded projects, visit WCB's StoryMaps pages.

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