๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ, ๐๐โ The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe (BLR) is honored to assume stewardship of Leavey Ranch, a historic 240-acre property adjacent to BLR Tribal lands. As the ancestral home of the Wiyot people, this land return marks a vital step in correcting historical injustices and ensuring sustainable land management for future generations.
Jim Leavey established the Joseph J. Leavey, Jr. Revocable Trust in 2007, granting his estate to the Humboldt Area Foundation, which has overseen its management since 2014. The recent transfer of Leavey Ranch to Blue Lake Rancheria followed a rigorous Request for Proposal process facilitated by the Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation, ensuring the selection was based on merit and aligned with Mr. Leaveyโs intent to support agriculture, ecological preservation, and education.
The Leavey Ranch was purchased in 1912 by Michael Leavey as part of the familyโs dairy operation. The Leavey family played a significant role in shaping the West End and wider agricultural community through their land stewardship and civic engagement. Jim Leavey โ Michaelโs grandson โ continued in this tradition through his own conservation work.
In honoring the intent of Mr. Leavey, the Tribe will continue to maintain Leavey Ranch as a working cattle ranch while integrating the property into its Food Sovereignty Program. This initiative will enhance the production of traditional and fresh foods, supporting elders, children, and underserved communities.
A continued partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt will drive ongoing research in regenerative agriculture and ecological monitoring. Meanwhile, Blue Lake Rancheria will create immersive learning experiences centered on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, wildlife conservation, and sustainable land management practices.
The Tribe will prohibit all non-agricultural commercial development on Leavey Ranch, protecting its ecological and cultural significance. Future efforts will focus on land restoration and climate resilience by implementing carbon sequestration, agroforestry, and indigenous land management. This approach will help restore the landscape while ensuring long-term sustainability.
Since its federal reinstatement in 1983, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe has built nationally recognized initiatives in climate resilience, renewable energy, and food sovereignty. With its proximity to Leavey Ranch and decades of sustainable land management experience, the Tribe is uniquely positioned to uphold the agricultural legacy of the property while advancing environmental and cultural sustainability. Blue Lake Rancheria is eager to collaborate with the Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation, Cal Poly Humboldt, College of the Redwoods, and other regional and Tribal organizations to maximize Leavey Ranchโs potential, ensuring lasting benefits for the region that aligns with Mr. Leaveyโs wishes.
โ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ค๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.โ โ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐, ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ช๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต’๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐๐+๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ, ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต.” โ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป+๐ช๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Blue Lake Rancheria would like to thank our West End neighbors and Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation for their invaluable support in making this land return possible. Looking ahead, the Tribe is excited to collaborate with partners to ensure the long-term sustainability of the property. Although Leavey Ranch is not open for public access, those interested in partnership opportunities are encouraged to contact: TEPA@bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov