After centuries of overhunting by fur traders, sea otters have largely disappeared from the Oregon and Northern California coasts. But the Siletz Tribe is trying to bring them back with the help of a $1.56 million grant.
The three-year grant comes from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and is part of the America the Beautiful Challenge, a partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Native Americans in Philanthropy.
Siletz Tribal member Robert Kentta said sea otters have a revered role in his culture.
“They figure prominently in our stories as a relative and a near neighbor,” Kentta told KLCC. “They bring wealth and good times, and abundance.”
Sea otters also serve an important role as a keystone species in the environment, by eating invasive crustaceans like green crabs, and by restoring and maintaining kelp forests.
“There’s also oxygenation and coastal erosion buffering when we have kelp forest habitat in the near-shore ecosystem," said Kentta. "So there’s lots of benefits, and we just see a degrading habitat with sea otter absence.”
The project is called Bringing Xvlh-t’vsh Home: Indigenous-led Planning for Sea Otter’s Return to the Oregon and Northern California Coast. Other collaborators include the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Yurok Tribe, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, among others.
Kentta said the tribe and its partners will likely relocate sea otters from locations on the Pacific coast where the population is healthier.
In a news release, Siletz Tribal Chair Delores Pigsley expressed her appreciation for the funding and partnerships.
“I am pleased that after years of collaboration with the Elakha Alliance and others, we will now be able to take steps with other tribal nations and partner organizations to return this culturally important species to their ancient home,” she said.
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