The Yurok Tribe are one of the oldest existing communities in California. With a homeland stretching along northern coastal communities from Crescent City to Trinidad, there are estimated to be more than 6,000 Yurok alive in 2024. Yet despite living along the Klamath River for at least 10,000 years, the Yurok have in recent history had very little say over California’s natural resources.
“Climate change is the only potential obstacle regarding the preservation of this land for future generations.” — Then last year, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) announced that it would begin dismantling the Klamath Hydroelectric Project, which has blocked fish passage and changed the Klamath’s river flows for over 100 years. Now additional steps are being taken to restore control of the region’s natural resources to the local indigenous community.
In March, the Yurok Tribe signed an agreement with the National Park Service and California State Parks that constitutes a memorandum of understanding: An environmentalist nonprofit known as the Save the Redwoods League, which currently controls the 125-acre national park known as ‘O Rea, will eventually transfer control back to the Yurok Tribe.