BLM, Mooretown Rancheria sign co-stewardship agreement for public lands
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REDDING, Calif. – Leaders from the Bureau of Land Management and the Mooretown Rancheria of Concow Maidu Indians of California today signed a co-stewardship agreement designed to strengthen cooperation between the BLM Redding Field Office and the Rancheria in managing public and Tribal lands and resources within the Tribe’s ancestral homeland.
The agreement between the BLM and Mooretown Rancheria is the first formal co-stewardship agreement made between BLM California and a federally recognized Tribe; it will cover more than 1,300 acres of public lands within the Tribal homeland near Lake Oroville in Butte County. The agreement provides a framework for the BLM and the Mooretown Rancheria to proactively manage lands under their respective jurisdictions in consistent ways.
“We are proud to partner with Mooretown Rancheria in an agreement that will strengthen our ability to manage these public lands for future generations,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “This co-stewardship agreement will enhance natural and cultural resource protection and make our land management more effective.”
“This is a historic day for Mooretown Rancheria and a day of celebration. We will be able to manage our homelands the way our ancestors did, protecting the forests from catastrophic fires, protecting watersheds that fill the creeks and rivers with fish,” said Ben Clark, Tribal Chair for the Rancheria, who lauded the agreement. “We are connected to this place, and now our children will take on the stewardship of these resources and walk where our people walked for thousands of years. I want to thank the BLM for becoming our partner to bring this about.”
Over the last decade, the Mooretown Forestry Department has grown its capacity to manage forested lands to protect them from wildfire and use Tribal management practices to make the forests more resilient than before the 1900s. The department has conducted forest management on thousands of acres in partnership with Lassen Volcanic National Park, the U.S. Forest Service, private landowners, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and other Tribes. The Tribe will be working with the BLM and other landowners to develop and implement a management plan across the entire landscape.
The agreement between the Mooretown Rancheria and BLM stems from a 2021 Secretarial Order issued by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior directing their departments and component bureaus and offices to manage Federal lands in a manner that protects the treaty, religious, subsistence and cultural interests of federally recognized Indian Tribes.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.