CalTrout News
Prairie Creek Project Site Land Will be Returned to Yurok Tribe in Historic Agreement
Yesterday, March 19, 2024, Save the Redwoods League, the Yurok Tribe, National Park Service, and California State Parks signed a landmark memorandum of understanding in a historic first step towards transferring ‘O Rew, a 125-acre ecologically and culturally important property and the site of a CalTrout floodplain restoration project, from Save the Redwoods League back to its original steward, the Yurok Tribe. The agreement describes the four partners’ shared vision for long-term co-management of the site as a gateway for the visiting public to the adjacent Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP). This vision describes the first co-management model whereby National Park Service and California State will support visitation and stewardship on land owned by a Tribe.
CalTrout celebrates this exciting news and the step that it signifies toward a new future in conservation that considers the historic context of land management and honors Indigenous sovereignty through action. We look to this agreement as the first of many, and are grateful to witness our partner, the Yurok Tribe, in this moment.
Over the past five years, CalTrout has led the Prairie Creek Floodplain Restoration project with Save the Redwoods League, funding agencies, a team of local partners, and the Yurok Tribe to restore the landscape and as an example of what strong relationships can accomplish. We are grateful to be part of the joy of re-imagining how our communities and landscapes can shift to meet the challenges of our current social and environmental context.
The vision codified in today’s memorandum of understanding is for Save the Redwoods League to convey ‘O Rew to the Yurok Tribe in 2026, following the completion of the restoration project.
Prairie Creek Floodplain Restoration Project
The Prairie Creek Floodplain Restoration Project is located 3.5 miles upstream from the ocean and marks a very important location in the lives of salmon and steelhead in the Redwood Creek watershed – this site is the last downstream opportunity to provide floodplain rearing habitat in the system. At the project site, the creek is being transformed from steep-sided banks and a disconnected floodplain to a connected series of off-channel ponds and backwater features with large wood installations to create habitat for young salmon and steelhead. This habitat is critical in the winter when it provides shelter from high flows and rich habitat to feed and grow prior to outmigration to the ocean.
CalTrout works closely with our partners a team of local consultants, the Yurok Tribe, Save the Redwoods League, and all of the project’s funders – led by California State Coastal Conservancy, and including NOAA, California Wildlife Conservation Board, Ocean Protection Council, and USFWS – to implement this multi-phase project. Starting in 2021, the project team implemented three construction seasons with 2024 shaping up to be the largest season yet. We’ve built 11 acres of riparian and wetland floodplain habitat and an off-channel pond, and we are currently removing the remaining asphalt from the mill site. In 2026, the project will be complete to welcome visitors to a new trail gateway and to welcome juvenile salmonids and other aquatic species to a rich mosaic of aquatic habitat.
Cover Photo: Project partners gather to kick off the Prairie Creek restoration in 2021. Ongoing ecological restoration and a site transformation for recreation and public access are part of the exciting vision for ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway. Credit: Michael Wier.
