The Feather River Land Trust announces that its partner in conservation, the Waší·šiw Land Trust, has completed the acquisition of 10,274 acres of Washoe homelands near Loyalton, now named the WélmeltiɁ Preserve. The purchase was finalized in early February.
This project is the culmination of a four-year collaboration between the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, the Feather River Land Trust and the Northern Sierra Partnership and represents the largest tribal land return ever completed in the Sierra Nevada and the third largest in California.
Largely surrounded by public lands, the WélmeltiɁ Preserve holds an outstanding diversity of habitat types, including sagebrush scrub, conifer forests and wet meadows, as well as 27 miles of creeks and streams, providing excellent habitat for many wildlife species, including 33 rare or threatened species…