Potter Valley Tribe Establishes Pomo Community Forest with Support from Trust for Public Land and USDA Forest Service
San Francisco, Calif. – The Potter Valley Tribe, in partnership with Trust for Public Land, USDA Forest Service, and First Nations Development Institute, announced the creation of the Pomo Community Forest, a 48-acre coastal forest in Mendocino County. This forest will restore ownership of the Tribe’s homelands while providing public recreation, plus cultural and educational opportunities for generations to come.
The Potter Valley Tribe is just the third Tribe to create a community forest with the support from the Forest Service’s Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program.
The new Pomo Community Forest, located just south of Fort Bragg, will offer Tribal youth camps, First Foods gatherings, community ceremonies, and environmental education rooted in traditional knowledge from the Potter Valley Tribe. In addition to serving as a cornerstone for Tribal food sovereignty and cultural revitalization, the forest will be open for public use in ways that honor and protect cultural and natural resources.
The forest – of redwood, tanoak, fir, and Bishop pine – sits within an ecologically rich and culturally significant corridor. Its protection enhances habitat connectivity with nearby public lands, including Jackson State Forest and Jug Handle State Natural Reserve.
A forthcoming Community Forest Plan will guide sustainable public access, in alignment with Tribal stewardship priorities. The Tribe will manage the Pomo Community Forest with a focus on long-term resilience, including the restoration of forest conditions and culturally significant species like tanbark oak, huckleberry, elderberry, and mushrooms.
“The Potter Valley Tribe has worked several years with our various partners to obtain this coastal property,” said Salvador Rosales, the Chairman of Potter Valley Tribe. “We will be working to restore the site to a healthy state of old growth and mixed forest resources, using Traditional Ecological Knowledge and modern practices. We look to the future for traditional gathering, recreation, and educational opportunities.”
The acquisition was made possible through the Forest Service’s Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program and the California Tribal Nations Grant Fund. Trust for Public Land, in partnership with the Tribe, played a pivotal role in securing the property and guiding the Tribe through the process of acquiring land with public funds.
“We are incredibly proud to stand with the Potter Valley Tribe in supporting the return of this land to its original stewards,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, California State Director for Trust for Public Land. “The Pomo Community Forest is a great example of how land protection can not only honor Tribal sovereignty but also expand public access and safeguard irreplaceable cultural knowledge—all in one.”
The Tribe will fund long-term management with general funds and outside grants, overseen by experienced Tribal environmental and cultural staff. This project builds on the Potter Valley Tribe’s reclamation of lands in Mendocino County, including the Tribe’s coastal Noyo-bida Ranch five miles north, which currently hosts inter-tribal youth campouts and community programming. These lands are being actively restored, celebrated, and shared through Tribal leadership.
“This land could have been subdivided and developed, forever severing cultural and ecological ties for future generations. Instead, it will now serve as a center for cultural empowerment, food sovereignty, youth education, and recreation. TPL is incredibly proud to have helped bring about the collaboration needed to ensure this community forest becomes a reality,” said Jeff Conti, North Coast Project Manager at Trust for Public Land.
TPL is a national leader in advancing the growing community forest movement, which began in New England over two decades ago and has since expanded nationwide. Since 2001, TPL has helped establish or expand 30 community forests across the country—protecting more than 30,000 acres.
For more than two decades, TPL has partnered with over 70 Tribes and Indigenous communities to protect and return more than 200,000 acres of ancestral lands. This includes the recent efforts to secure the future return of 30,000 acres in Maine to the Penobscot Nation, as well as the protection and return of culturally significant lands on California’s Central Coast in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
About Potter Valley Tribe
The Potter Valley Tribe is a small Pomo tribe located on the North Coast of California. With a growing population of 29, the Tribe has been pursuing its goals of increasing its land base since its termination (1961) and re-organization (1993). The Tribe now manages 1,273 acres of lands from the mainstem Eel River to coastal Mendocino County. The governmental offices are located at the Tribal Community Center in Ukiah.
About Trust for Public Land
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,504 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, and raised $110 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
