10,000 acres north of Lake Tahoe to be returned to California tribe

"A historic deal will return over 10,000 acres of former ranch land in the northern Sierra Nevada to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, state officials announced. California's Wildlife Conservation Board recently approved a $5.5 million grant to assist the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust in purchasing 10,274 acres near the town of Loyalton, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday. The property, formerly Loyalton Ranch, is about 50 miles north of Lake Tahoe and 20 miles north of Reno."

"The Washoe people's ancestral homelands cover about 3.5 million acres of the area around what is now Lake Tahoe, from the high desert to the crest of the Sierra. The tribe's Council formed the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust this year with the goal of facilitating land returns throughout the region. The Loyalton Ranch property is the first acquisition the organization has entered into, and the purchase, which is expected to close in January,"

Over 10,000 acres of former Loyalton Ranch in the northern Sierra Nevada will transfer to the Washoe Tribe via the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust with a $5.5 million grant from California's Wildlife Conservation Board. The 10,274-acre property sits near Loyalton, adjacent to public lands near Highway 395 and the Nevada state line, and supports alpine habitat with pronghorn, mule deer, mountain lions, gray wolves, and pine, juniper, and aspen forests. The Washoe Tribe formed the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust this year to facilitate land returns; this is the trust's first acquisition, expected to close in January and part of a four-year partnership with regional land trusts.

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