The U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service celebrated the Rappahannock Tribe's reaquisition of 465 acres on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River in Virginia.
The land at Fones Cliffs is sacred to the Tribe, according to an April 1 news release. The lands will be owned by the Tribe, publicly accessible and held with a permanent conservation easement conveyed to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
“The department is honored to join the Rappahannock Tribe in co-stewardship of this portion of their ancestral homeland," Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the news release. "We look forward to drawing upon Tribal expertise and Indigenous knowledge in helping manage the area’s wildlife and habitat. This historic reacquisition underscores how Tribes, private landowners and other stakeholders all play a central role in this administration’s work to ensure our conservation efforts are locally led and support communities’ health and well-being.”
Chesapeake Conservancy purchase the land with support from the family of Dr. William Dodge Angle and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through a grant from Walmart's Acres for American Program and donated the easement to the Fish and Wildlife Service.The fee title was donated to the Tribe which "intends to place the land in Trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs," according to the news release.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, Fones Cliff is a habitat for bald eagle and other birds. It is located within the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail on the Northern Neck of Virginia.
In December 2021, the efforts of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam were recognized by the tribe, according to a Rappahannock Tribe news release. Northam has been helping the tribe reacquire the land their ancestors once occupied. In addition, he proposed $10 million in funding to create the Black, Indigenous and People of Color Conservation Fund to help concentrate conservation efforts for historic and cultural sites with high degrees of importance to their respective communities.
