U.S. Government Invests Millions in Yurok Tribe’s Infrastructure, Environmental Health, and Economic Development

In this article, the total amount of federal and state funding mentioned for the Yurok Tribe and Klamath River Basin restoration efforts is approximately $175.7 million. It is almost impossible to get a total picture of all the funding provided over the last decade. Here’s a breakdown of the investments:

The United States government has made significant investments in recent years to support the wellbeing and self-determination of the Yurok Tribe in northern California. Through grants from various federal agencies, the Yurok Tribe is receiving critical funding for infrastructure upgrades, environmental restoration, economic development, and land acquisition to protect vital water resources in their ancestral territory.

In 2011, the Yurok Tribe received an $18.8 million, zero-interest loan from the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program. This enabled the Tribe to purchase 22,237 acres of forest land along the Lower Klamath River for sustainable management practices that will protect water quality and supply. The acquired lands will be managed with no pesticide application, increased stream buffers, longer timber harvest rotations, no clear cutting, road decommissioning, and setting aside of carbon reserves.

One of the most transformative federal grants is $61 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. This will enable the Tribe to install 62 miles of fiber optic cable, bringing high-speed internet to nearly 1,000 homes, 110 businesses, and 18 community anchor institutions on the Yurok Reservation and adjacent lands. Reliable broadband access will open up new opportunities in education, telehealth, remote work and entrepreneurship for Tribal citizens.

The Yurok Tribe also received $6 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to modernize a fuel distribution facility. Upgrading this critical energy infrastructure will stimulate business growth and job creation in the region.

To support the Yurok Tribe’s work in restoring the health of their ancestral rivers, the Department of the Interior is investing $72 million in ecosystem restoration projects throughout the Klamath River Basin. This includes $1.8 million for habitat improvement and reconnecting the lower Klamath River to the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. 

In the Upper Klamath Basin, the Department of the Interior is investing over $7 million in Tribal-led restoration projects, including:

– $2 million for the Klamath Tribes to restore the Upper Williamson River and Klamath Marsh 

– $922,459 for the Klamath Tribes to support a stream restoration crew working on tributaries above Upper Klamath Lake

– $4 million for Barnes Agency wetland restoration, which the Klamath Tribes have long advocated for

These investments will help restore degraded habitats, improve water quality, and revitalize culturally significant species like C’waam and Koptu (Lost River and shortnose sucker fish) in the headwaters of the Klamath River Basin.

The Yurok Tribe is also leading a massive revegetation effort in the 38 miles of reservoir waterways that are being restored through the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. The Tribe will plant billions of native seeds, acorns, trees and shrubs to rehabilitate the ecosystem after decades of impacts from the dams.

The State of California has provided complementary investments, including a $3.99 million grant from the Department of Fish and Wildlife for the Yurok Tribe’s large-scale floodplain restoration project on the Trinity River, and $5 million from the Clean California initiative for community beautification projects on the Reservation. 

Altogether, this influx of federal and state funding empowers the Yurok Tribe to address long-standing inequities and build a foundation for a thriving future. By investing in the Tribe’s priorities and self-determined goals, the government is supporting the Yurok people’s health, culture, and resilience for generations to come. The holistic restoration of the Klamath River Basin’s ecological and cultural integrity, from the headwaters to the estuary, combined with the sustainable management of Tribally-owned forest lands, will have lasting benefits for the Yurok Tribe and all communities in the watershed.

The Yurok Tribe is exploring strategies like a “rights of the Klamath River” ordinance to grant legal personhood to the river, as well as asserting their tribal water rights in the basin.

So in addition to the major dam removal and revegetation efforts, the tribes are pursuing a range of legal, ecological, and cultural restoration initiatives to improve tribal lands and rights throughout the Klamath River Basin.

References used in the article:

Yurok Tribe Leads Massive Revegetation Project 
https://www.yuroktribe.org/post/yurok-tribe-leads-massive-revegetation-project

Klamath Tribes Respond to Department of Interior Landmark Agreement to Fund Upper Klamath Basin Restoration
https://klamathtribes.org/klamath-tribes-respond-to-department-of-interior-landmark-agreement-to-fund-upper-klamath-basin-restoration

Yurok Tribe Secures $5 Million Grant for Beautification Projects
https://www.triplicate.com/news/yurok-tribe-secures-5-million-grant-for-beautification-projects/article_7ad260ec-921f-11ee-af1c-6780d10ec4bc.html

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $16.1 Million to Boost Business and Job Growth in Tribal Communities
https://www.eda.gov/news/press-release/2023/09/26/us-department-commerce-invests-161-million-boost-business-and-job

Yurok Tribe Receives $61 Million Grant for Transformational Broadband Project
https://www.yuroktribe.org/post/yurok-tribe-receives-61-million-grant-for-transformational-broadband-project

Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Land Conservation Fact Sheet
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-10/documents/cwsrf_land_conservation.pdf

Yurok Tribe Awarded $4 Million from California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife
https://www.yuroktribe.org/post/yurok-tribe-awarded-4-million-from-california-dept-of-fish-wildlife

Department of the Interior’s $72 million investment in the Klamath River Basin ecosystem restoration
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-reaches-landmark-agreement-klamath-basin-tribes-project