Precious Lands Wildlife Area

The Wallowa Valley in northeastern Oregon lies among three stunning rivers—the Snake, the Salmon, and the Grande Ronde—and is renowned for the majestic snow-capped Wallowa Mountains, glistening glacial lakes, and breath-taking views.

The Wallowa Band of Nez Perce lived in the Wallowa Valley area until the U.S. Army forced them out in 1877 and onto reservations far from home. In 1997, Trust for Public Land purchased a 10,300-acre property in the Wallowa Valley and returned the land to the Nez Perce Tribe. This land is sacred to the Nez Perce Tribe as the birthplace of Chief Joseph, who led the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce when the Tribe was driven from their homelands by the U.S. government. Upon return of the land, Nez Perce elder Horace Axtell renamed the land Hetes’wits Wetes, meaning Precious Land.

Since regaining ownership, the Nez Perce Tribe has managed the land as Precious Lands Wildlife Area, and have re-acquired more land to expand the reserve. The land provides refuge for big horn sheep, elk, cougar, and spawning fish.

Though this property represents only a small fraction of the Tribe’s ancestral land, reuniting the Nez Perce Tribe with this piece of their homeland resulted in a positive ripple effect. It has provided opportunities to reflect on historical injustices affecting all of us today and educate non-Indigenous people about the Tribe’s history and the importance of this landscape.