California Tribes to Receive $107 Million for Land Buybacks and Conservation Efforts Under New Grant Program

California tribes who ceded millions of acres of ancestral land to a new state government in the mid-19th century are receiving $107 million in state funds from the California Natural Resources Agency under its tribal nature-based solutions grant program. The grants will cover buybacks of 38,000 acres of private lands once occupied by Indigenous tribes. The program also supports the state’s conservation initiative to protect 30 percent of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030 and promotes the use of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to address climate threats. State officials believe this is the right thing to do as Native American communities have been caring for their lands and waters for thousands of years.