Tribe Releases Native Elk Back Onto 17,000 Sacred Sierra Nevada Acres

Tribe Releases Native Elk Back Onto 17,000 Sacred Sierra Nevada Acres

Tribe Releases Native Elk Back Onto 17,000 Sacred Sierra Nevada Acres Tule elk scamper away through the hills – credit – released by Gov. Newsom’s office A California Indian nation celebrated the return of 17,000 acres of ancestral lands by releasing several of the region’s native Tule elk to roam the hills again for the first time in decades. The Tule River Indian Tribe elders and community members gathered around the large steel transport containers and watched the animals scurry off into the foothills of the southwestern Sierra Nevada in a ceremony sweet closure decades in the making. The 17,030 acres are made up of former ranch properties that connect the Tule River Tribe’s existing reservation with a large block of US Forest Service land that connects with Giant Sequoia National Monument in Sequoia National Forest. By turning the land, known as the Yowlumne Hills, over to the tribe, a substantial conservation corridor for animals including these Tule elk will be established. “The tribe…