The Blue Creek watershed in northern California may seem small, even in comparison to the nearby Upper Klamath River system. But this cold-water creek plays a disproportionately important role in its ecosystem, particularly when it comes to spawning salmon.
This is because its cold temperatures serve as a vital transition point in the salmon's annual migration, allowing them to adjust their cold-water body temperatures to the higher temperatures they will endure upstream. Without being able to rest in Blue Creek — which itself had been mismanaged and full of silt and pollution from commercial logging — it is likely the salmon population would gradually disappear.
But now, thanks to the decades-long sustained efforts of many people, Blue Creek is going to be protected for generations to come by the Yurok tribe, Mongabay reported.
Yurok Nation is California's largest Indigenous tribe, comprising 6,000 members. They are the original caretakers and owners of the Blue Creek watershed, but it was seized from them in the 1887 Dawes Act, which handed their land over to developers and private interests. Even until recent years, daytime access to the water systems had been forbidden, with preference going to affluent sports fishermen.
Now, in California's largest land-back conservation deal in history, the watershed has finally been returned to its Yurok stewards. It's a tremendous win for the entire ecosystem, in addition to the recent removal of several dams in the Upper Klamath River.
"Back in the day, it was pie in the sky to think we'd ever get this land back," Richard Nelson, head of the Yurok's watershed restoration and roads department, told Mongabay. "Now here we are, and the dams are … gone, too. It's a phenomenal thing."
Barry McCovey, head of the Yurok fisheries department, echoed the sentiment. It's "a massive step in the right direction, maybe the biggest step of all," he emphasized.
The deal was hardly simple. The private company that owned the watershed, Green Diamond, was open to selling it as early as 2002, but they wanted fair market value for it — a staggering $60 million sum that was impossible for the Yurok tribe to provide or even to fundraise themselves.
But rather than despair, they brought in an environmental nonprofit called Western Rivers Conservancy, which helped take on the fundraising. And after nearly two decades of constant work, including navigating complex tax credits and government loans, the Conservancy was able to secure enough funding to orchestrate the deal.
Mongabay spoke with Joseph James, the Yurok chair, who said: "You have to smile a little bit when you realize you're buying back your own land, right? Yes, it's a hefty price tag, but it's also priceless."
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Pergish Carlson, a Yurok river guide, agreed. "This creek right here, this is the lifeline of the whole river — for the salmon, for water quality, and spiritually, for the Yurok people," he said. "This is a sacred spot."
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