Owner/Client: Maidu Summit Consortium and Conservancy
Divestiture of PG&E lands through the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council has created an historic opportunity to return ownership and management of part of the original Maidu homeland to the tribal community. Over 2,300 acres comprising the Humbug Valley properties have continued to be important to the Tribe over the centuries of ownership by others. Returning ownership of these lands will allow them to help perpetuate Maidu culture, empower the Maidu community to carry out land management using traditional practices and methods, and demonstrate the effectiveness of Native American land stewardship. Ascent is assisting the Maidu with preparation of a Land Management Plan that will guide use and management of the properties with priority goals and strategies coming from tribal community input, while integrating features to comply with the mandate of the Stewardship Council and natural resources management objectives of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Successful preparation of the Land Management Plan will involve extensive multi-stakeholder, land management and resource conservation planning and a sincere willingness to collaborate closely with the tribal community, including community specialists as subcontractors, who will provide Traditional Ecological Knowledge for incorporation into the plan.