Three projects return land to California Native American tribes for cultural and traditional agricultural uses
Media Contact: LCI.press@lci.ca.gov
MERCED (4/29/26) — The California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) today approved more than $45.5 million in Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) Program grants to permanently protect 17,381 acres of croplands and rangelands across 16 counties.
Investments from Round 11, Cycle A, of the SALC Program will fund 23 projects: 19 agricultural conservation easements and four fee title acquisitions. The 16 counties include: Butte, Calaveras, Fresno, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Tehama and Tulare.
Two of the four fee title acquisition projects are led by a California Native American tribe, which will result in the return of 408 acres of land to California Native American tribes or ownership of land by a tribal nonprofit. A third fee title acquisition of 586 acres would provide a California Native American tribe a cultural easement for access and stewardship. The tribes and nonprofit include the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the ytt Northern Chumash Nonprofit and the Amah Mutsun Tribe. In total, these three projects reflect an investment of $9.78 million (or 20.76% of total available funding) in projects that will result in secure land tenure for tribes and their members.
Each of these awarded projects provides multiple benefits — from protecting wildlife and habitats to supporting agricultural and tribal food systems to promoting biodiversity and soil health. By returning land to California tribes and protecting productive farmlands, the SALC Program is essential to smart growth, resilience, and achieving California’s climate goals. We're incredibly proud to be among the partners that bring these projects to fruition.
This round of awards for 23 acquisition projects across 16 counties comes at a time when open space and farmland are truly at risk from urban sprawl and also marks a pivotal moment for the return of land to Native American Tribes. These conservation easements and fee acquisitions promote a wide variety of benefits such as food security, critical wildlife corridors, tribal cultural preservation, and sustainable growth. We are thrilled to be partnering with Tribes, ranchers, farmers, and SGC to ensure these lands will be protected for generations to come.
Acquisition grants are for deed restrictions that landowners voluntarily place on their property to conserve the land’s agricultural resources in perpetuity. Conservation easements help prevent the conversion of farmlands to development, which avoids increased vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions, and promotes carbon sequestration. They support the local agricultural economy and access to nutritious food, while also protecting native plants and animals and their habitats and supporting sustainable land management practices that help reduce fire risk, among other benefits.
Of the 27 Round 11, Cycle A, applications, eight were developed using SALC capacity and project development funding, seven of which were recommended for award., the
Once completed, these investments from Round 11, Cycle A, will avoid greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 1,305,268 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to removing 304,461 gas-powered cars from the road for one year.
The awards were announced at the April 29 SGC Council Meeting in Merced; more information on the projects is available on the meeting webpage. SALC will continue with Round 11, Cycle B Conservation Acquisition and Land Use Planning awards at the October SGC Council Meeting.
By protecting California’s agricultural lands from more energy-intensive uses, SALC promotes smart growth within existing jurisdictions, ensures open space remains available, supports agricultural and tribal food systems, promotes biodiversity and soil health, and helps sequester climate change-causing emissions.
About the California Strategic Growth Council
The California Strategic Growth Council is composed of 10 distinguished members including state-agency secretaries and directors, and three appointed members of the public. The Director of the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation acts as its chair.
The Council coordinates and works collaboratively with public agencies, communities, and stakeholders to achieve sustainability, equity, economic prosperity, and quality of life for all Californians.
About the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) Program
SALC is a component of SGC’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC). It complements infrastructure investments made in urban areas with the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, development of agricultural land strategy plans, and other mechanisms that result in greenhouse gas reductions and a more resilient agricultural sector. The program invests in agricultural land conservation with revenue from California Climate Investments, a statewide program that uses billions of Cap-and-Invest dollars to fund projects that reduce harmful emissions, protect public health, strengthen local economies, and support natural environments. With a strong focus on communities most impacted by pollution and limited access to resources, California Climate Investments helps build a more equitable and sustainable future. The California Department of Conservation works in cooperation with the Natural Resources Agency as SGC’s implementation partner for the program.