U.S. Forest Service managers have finalized a land exchange in Arizona with the Yavapai-Apache Nation.
The Tuesday announcement marks the end of an exchange decades in the making that will nearly triple the size of the tribe’s reservation in Verde Valley.
The Yavapai-Apache Tribe had acquired parcels of private land over the years. It will be exchanging those for 5-square miles of national forest land that is part of the tribe’s ancestral homeland.
The reservation is currently less than 3-square miles, and nation spokesperson Tanya Lewis said its small size has hindered economic development.
Federal land managers also agreed to protect headwaters of the Verde River and ensured the historic Yavapai Ranch is not sold for development.
The Yavapai-Apache Nation is made up of two distinct groups of people — the Wipuhk’a’bah and the Dil’zhe’e. Their homelands spanned more than 16,000 square miles of what is now central Arizona. After the discovery of gold in the 1860s near Prescott, the federal government carved out only a fraction to establish a reservation. The inhabitants eventually were forced from the land, and it wasn't until the early 1900s that they were able to resettle a tiny portion of the area.