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Comment by throw9away6 | Hacker News Reader

It’s not the optimal outcome for the tribe. Also I’d be interested in who benefits from having all this newly uncovered cleared land next to a river

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If you're implying that the tribes are going to financially benefit from new land, no. First of all, there's a ton of land already available, this is a very rural area. Secondly, they're doing habitat restoration.

So they are getting paid for that work? There is the more salmon to catch angle but the are probably other benefits too. I would venture they have the most to gain from this

I dunno if they have the most to gain, but they certainly have a lot to gain. There's also sports fishermen that will benefit, as well as wildlife in general (eg osprey), and the associated tourism.

I think one important benefit to consider is that these projects can be seen as an attempt to correct historical wrongs done against native people in these areas.

Imagine if you were a Yurok person and your people lived for thousands of years, as a unique culture, and where substituting off of salmon was integral to that culture, only to have foreign invaders remove you from your lands, put you on reservations, and effectively destroy the lifeblood of your people by damming the rivers. Now imagine how after several generations this would damage your people as a group economically.

Given that history, it seems strange to question that the Yurok people might have financial "benefits" from this kind of project.

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