Pacific Gas & Electric Company donated a 2,325-acre valley to nine Mountain Maidu groups, tribes, non-profit and grass-roots organizations, the company said in a press release. The area holds particular cultural significance to Maidu Native Americans.
The land will be protected from development by a conservation easement jointly held by the Feather River Land Trust and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Humbug Valley, or Tásmam Kojóm in the Maidu language, is a large meadow surrounding Yellow Creek that transitions into coniferous forest. It also contains a designated wild trout stream.
The property, southwest of Lake Almanor, is within the ancestral territory of the Mountain Maidu and contains soda springs, ceremonial and spiritual sites and Maidu ethnobotanical resources. The Maidu community continues to use parts of the area for ceremonial gatherings.
The donation is part of the company’s 2003 bankruptcy settlement.
PG&E acquired the parcel in 1917 when it absorbed Oro Electric Corporation. That entity’s predecessor, the Oro Water, Light and Power Company, acquired the land and water rights to the area for a proposed hydroelectric dam and reservoir, which was never built.
PG&E did not develop the land but leased it for cattle grazing until 2001. The company also provided public recreation opportunities at the Yellow Creek Campground.