Lush Marin County Coastal Land Returned to Graton Rancheria

The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria have regained stewardship over coastal land in Marin County as part of one of the North Bay’s largest-ever “Land Back” deals.

Western Rivers Conservancy, an organization that buys and protects land, transferred ownership of the 466-acre Dillon Beach Ranch, which is within the tribe’s Indigenous lands, back to Graton Rancheria “for permanent conservation and stewardship,” according to a joint statement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Land Back effort is part of a growing movement across California to return land to the indigenous people who lived on it. At least a dozen Land Back endeavors have already succeeded in the state, from an island returned to the Wiyot tribe in Humboldt County to the Esselen tribe’s purchase of a 1,200-acre ranch near Big Sur.

In July 2023, the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin purchased a 26-acre piece of land in the rural Marin County community of Nicasio, once Coast Miwok territory. It was announced in March that the Yurok Tribe, which had 90% of its territory taken from it during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, will regain ownership of 125 acres in Humboldt County in 2026. In August, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria reclaimed almost 70 acres within the Rohnert Park city limits.

Located about 40 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the ecologically rich chunk of land returned this month to the tribe includes 1.5 miles along the remote and winding Estero de San Antonio and 1.5 miles of Pacific coastline between the estuary and the town of Dillon Beach. The ranch is mostly a lush, green coastal terrace surrounded by steep bluffs leading down to the estuary and ocean.

“This is the first time that something has been actually given back that allows us to preserve a landscape that has been so important to us historically,” Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Tribal Chairman Greg Sarris said. “There are many sacred and culturally significant sites, particularly around the Estero.

“This has just been a remarkable, remarkable opportunity for us to continue the work on the land that we inherited from our ancestors. And we’re truly grateful for those who’ve worked with us to make this happen.”

The land is a habitat of fish, birds, insects, plants and animals. Peter Colby, the California program director of Western Rivers Conservancy, named the federally listed northern tidewater goby, an endangered medium-sized butterfly known as Myrtle’s silverspot and the California red-legged frog as just a few of the species that make the Dillon Ranch’s sandbars and headlands their home.

“Esteros are particularly rich habitats because of the mixing of salt and freshwater,” Colby said. “All of those aspects of this property make it important for the state’s conservation goals.”

The property was operated for decades as a private cattle ranch until it was purchased in 1999 by Saint Antony Monastery. Western Rivers Conservancy bought it from the monastery in December 2023, using an investment from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The conservancy then worked with Graton Rancheria to secure additional funding from the Fish and Wildlife Department.

Graton Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe composed of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo, tribes with aboriginal roots in Sonoma and Marin counties. Graton Rancheria owns and operates Graton Resort and Casino, the Bay Area’s largest hotel-gambling resort, on its sovereign land just outside Rohnert Park.

The tribe comanages Point Reyes National Seashore with the National Parks Service, which is considered a first-of-its-kind partnership, and Tolay Lake Regional Park in Sonoma County.

Sarris pointed out that this particular land transfer is the first time that the tribe has been granted its own durable management plan that will “forever protect Dillon Beach and the Estero de San Antonio.”

“I hope that this becomes a model for what can be done and what should be done for the other tribes along the coast and elsewhere in California and throughout the country,” Sarris said. “Increasingly, with the climate disaster, people are turning to us to work to restore landscapes. And each piece becomes a healthy cell in the body of this country where land is preserved, taken care of and restored. And we must do it bit by bit.”

Western Rivers Conservancy purchases land along fragile rivers and streams throughout the West to conserve habitat for wildlife, protect sources of fresh water and ensure public access. The organization boasts that it has secured protection along 250 rivers and streams and has protected more than 440 river miles and 220,000 acres of land in nine states.

The conservancy’s goal is to transfer lands to long-term stewards such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and state parks, as well as tribal nations such as Graton Rancheria. The conservancy has been an active partner in the Land Back movement, a decentralized, global campaign that seeks to make amends and restore Indigenous sovereignty — both political and economic — to ancestral tribal lands.

“There are numerous tribes in California, in particular, that have no land and are looking to get back their land,” Colby said. “The tribes that do have some land are anxious to reacquire their ancestral land and to be able to hold them for conservation purposes.”

He continued: “Every time the people of California and the tribal members of California see a deal like this go down, they understand the potential that’s out there.”

KQED’s Gilare Zada contributed to this story.