California redwood forest returned to native tribal group

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A conservation group is turning over a historic redwood grove on the Northern California coast to descendants of the original Native American inhabitants. Save the Redwoods League said it would transfer to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council a 523-acre property it recently acquired on the Lost Coast. It’s the second property the league has transferred to the group of 10 tribes. The property includes prized old-growth redwoods, which were mostly decimated by logging. The land was purchased with $3.5 million from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet habitat to mitigate other environmental damage by the utility.