"The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, a native tribe that lived in the Yosemite area for thousands of years until being pushed out in the 1850s, purchased 896 acres along the Yosemite National Park's western boundary at Henness Ridge on Dec. 1, 2025 from the Pacific Forest Trust, a San Francisco environmental group, for $2.4 million. This is the view from the property looking north toward Yosemite Valley. (Photo: Pacific Forest Trust)"
"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 18th or 19th centuries. Funding for the $2.4 million sale was provided to the tribe by the California Natural Resources Agency as part of a state program that helps tribes acquire land."
"Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren, said Sandra Chapman, tribal council chairwoman of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. It will be a sanctuary for our people."
The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation purchased 896 acres at Henness Ridge along Yosemite National Park's western boundary on Dec. 1, 2025, for $2.4 million. The landscape includes groves of incense cedar, white fir and sugar pine and offers views across the Sierra Nevada foothills and the Merced River. Funding came from the California Natural Resources Agency through a state program that helps tribes acquire land. The Pacific Forest Trust sold the property after owning much of it since 2004; a family had owned most of the land since 1925. The purchase restores ancestral territory and establishes cultural and healing space for the tribe.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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