The California Wildlife Conservation Board voted Nov. 20 to grant $5.5 million to the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust to support the purchase of 10,274 acres in the Washoe tribal homelands. The property, which is being sold at $6 million by the city of Santa Clara, is located to the south and east of Plumas County and comprises three parcels that span the range from Long Valley in the east to Sierra Valley in the west.
“It feels good. Great,” said Serell Smokey, chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, a few hours after the vote had passed. “It won’t really hit until we have that title in hand and we get our people out there, but it’s really exciting.”
The purchase is expected to go into full effect in January 2026, and will triple the amount of land currently held by the Washoe Tribe. It is one of the largest land returns in the Sierra Nevada region and was facilitated through a collaboration between the Washoe Tribe, the Feather River Land Trust and the Northern Sierra Partnership.
The Wášiw-šiw land trust was formed this year by the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California as a means to facilitate the acquisition and stewardship of property. The aim is to restore more land to indigenous ownership in the future, Smokey said, with hopes of “purchasing lands for all different things, not just strictly conservation.”
A four-year collaboration
Four years ago, Corey Pargee, executive director of the Feather River Land Trust, remembers her organization inviting the Washoe Tribe to collaborate on a storytelling effort around the Sierra Valley Preserve in Beckwourth.
Working together strengthened the ties between the tribe, the land trust and the Northern Sierra Partnership, eventually blossoming into a four-year collaborative effort. The tribe’s partners helped with surveying different parcels of land, facilitating conversations between the tribe and potential sellers and grant writing.
Pargee said it was an honor to be a part of the deal, and she hopes it is just the beginning of their relationship.
“The area has rich ecological resources for really restoring Washoe connection to the landscape,” Pargee said. “We’re just so happy for them and honored to play our part.”
Smokey felt that the acquisition would have easily taken the tribe 10 or even 20 years to manage on their own. “The partnership is the only way we could do it,” he said.
What the land means for the people
“Our ancestors, not even not that long ago, were forced off these lands,” Smokey said. “We want to be back on the land, because we’ll help each other: Our people on the land will help them heal, and we can put work into the land to help it heal.”
The property, called Loyalton Ranch, spans a wide range of habitat. Sagebrush-bitterbrush color swathes of hilly stretches, and grassland meadows thrive at the feet of the mountains. There are aspen groves and pinyon pines, the latter of which serve as an important food source for Washoe people. As winter turns to summer, species like pronghorn, mule deer, mountain lions, and gray wolves travel across the property, moving east to west along the migration corridor it offers.
The pinyon pine in particular bears a deep spiritual relevance for Washoe people, appearing in creation myths and tying itself closely to the Washoe identity. Losing that would “be like losing the [Washoe] language itself,” Smokey said. He recalled that in the 1920s, the Washoe people brought a case to protect the pine all the way to Washington, D.C., but were unsuccessful.
Now, the tribe has the opportunity to steward these pines better with their own hands. Over 3,000 young pinyon pine trees are growing in greenhouses, stewarded by Washoe tribe members. They are waiting for the land to officially change hands (and for the pines to grow a little more mature) before they plant them back into their native range.
Surveys of the land, reforesting and even removing trash from the property are all future concerns. For now, “I don’t care if it’s foot deep of snow out there,” Smokey said, laughing. “We’re going to bring everybody out and cook hot dogs or something.”