The Yurok’s Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary—the largest land-back deal in California history (June 2025)—now generates $3.3 million in carbon credits for tribal stewardship activities.
March 3, 2026 – A new $9.2 million state grant program is now open for California Native American tribes, offering a direct financial pathway to purchase and reclaim ancestral lands. The 2026 Tribal Nature-Based Solutions (TNBS) Climate Bond Solicitation, funded by the voter-approved Proposition 4 climate bond, prioritizes projects that pair land return with ecological restoration. For Northern California tribes like the Yurok and Karuk, who have spent generations fighting to restore their homelands along the Klamath River, this funding represents a critical new tool, building on a historic victory last year while a key application deadline looms just weeks away.
The program, administered by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), was created in direct response to tribal consultations on Governor Newsom’s nature-based solutions and 30×30 conservation strategies. It is designed to fund exactly the kind of work tribes have been leading for decades: buying back pieces of their territory and healing the land through traditional stewardship.
