Taneum Creek runs just behind what’s known as the “party barn” at Springwood Ranch in Central Washington. Recently, it’s been a place for weddings and birthdays.

However, these lands hold much more importance to the Yakama Nation. As part of their ancestral homelands, bands and tribes met from all over the state to trade and make connections, said Caseymac Wallahee, a member of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council.

“There was a gathering place here,” Wallahee said. “They would be here to exchange stories, exchange goods. There would also be celebrations, some dances, probably some hand games, some stick games.”

Now, the Yakama Nation will co-own and co-manage parts of the 3,600-acre Springwood Ranch with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Gerald Lewis, the chairman of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council, said a blessing earlier on Friday morning was meant “ to actually tell this land, tell the water that we are still here.”

According to Kelly Susewind, the director of WDFW, this will be the first land in Washington to be co-owned and co-managed by a tribe and the state. Kittitas County and the Kittitas Reclamation District will also own parts of the ranch.

“ Sometimes ceremonies are just some ceremonies, sometimes they’re a spiritual event. Today was an event, and that’s because of the importance of this project,” Susewind said at a celebration for the land transfer on Friday.

An off-channel reservoir, which partners in the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan hope to build, would hold runoff water that could be used for fish or other conservation efforts. That portion of the ranch would initially be owned by the Kittitas Reclamation District, said Urban Eberhart, the reclamation district manager.

“ This is a very key piece to set our ecosystem and our economy in this entire region up for survival so that in the next hundreds of years we can have agriculture that has a consistent water supply; we can (bring) the fish back,” Eberhart said. “ We’re building our way to get there.”

The conservation efforts on the ranch are part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, a massive roughly $4 billion package of projects that are supposed to help increase water supplies for fish, agriculture and municipalities. Groups that traditionally have fought over the water supply came together in 2009 to search for solutions to drought and climate change in the basin.

“ A collaborative approach of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan is being hailed as a model for a way to tackle some of the most urgent and complex ecological challenges in America,” said Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of Trust for Public Land, which initially secured the Springwood Ranch property.

However, the plan has been controversial, raising concerns from people near Bumping Lake, where an enlarged reservoir would flood an old-growth forest and family cabins. The organization Friends of Bumping Lake has also asked why the plan looks to build and enlarge reservoirs instead of conserving more water.

A Washington State University-led study also found the plan might not be worth the costs. Yakima Basin Integrated Plan proponents have pushed back against the study’s findings.

While the Springwood Ranch reservoir is still being studied for its feasibility, supporters said it’s a key project to help salmon. Because it’s off-channel, they said, it won’t harm fish passage and instead could be used to help cool water temperatures during summer months.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, called the ranch acquisition a “monumental win for the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and the Yakama Nation.”

Cantwell has helped raise federal funds for the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. She’s called the plan an important part of adapting to climate change and making the region more resilient in the face of longer droughts and precipitation changes.

The Springwood Ranch reservoir will increase water storage “improving drought resilience and ensuring water supplies for salmon survival and our Yakima agriculture,” she said in a statement.

It’s an important project for the future, said Cory Wright, a Kittitas County Commissioner, whose family has ranched and irrigated the area for many generations.

“Frankly, we have to be innovative and look forward as to how we can continue to preserve while welcoming opportunity,” he said.

In addition to increasing water storage, Yakama Nation leaders said it’s good to have this portion of ancestral homelands owned by the tribe again.

“Today is a blessing. It’s a good day to be back on this land,” Wallahee said.

Courtney Flatt is a reporter with Northwest Public Broadcasting. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/11/springwood-ranch-comanagement-yakama-nation/