Wednesday September 27, 2023
CapRadio —
Last week, three tribal nations declared the designation of a marine stewardship area in Northern California.
The protected area covers nearly 700 square miles of the tribes’ ancestral ocean and coastal lands, stretching from the California-Oregon border to just south of the seaside city of Trinidad in Humboldt County.
Megan Rocha is the executive director of the Resighini Tribe of Yurok People, one of the tribes involved in the effort. She said this plan is part of a larger effort to recognize the use of tribes’ traditional knowledge, combined with new scientific practices, when protecting marine environments.
“Tribal stewardship is conservation,” she said.
“It leans into the tribes’ sovereignty and is being designated under the constitutional and governance authority of these federally recognized tribes,” she said.