A nearly seven-acre stretch of rocky coastline south of Yachats is set to return to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, more than 170 years after it was included in the Siletz Coast Reservation and later removed from tribal lands. The property, known as Rocky Shores, was appraised and purchased for $120,000 with help from the nonprofit land trust View the Future, the McKenzie River Trust and The Nature Conservancy. View the Future contributed $55,000. The transfer from the landowner to the tribe was still underway as of early October and could be completed within days, according to project partners. The groups moved to protect the parcel amid concern it could be developed. View the Future founder Joanne Kittel said the organization had tracked the property for 17 years because of its ecological value and its importance to the tribes. The land includes a freshwater stream, coastal vegetation and rocky shoreline. Siletz natural resources director Angela Sondenaa said the coast is important for biodiversity and for tribal gathering, and connects to the tribe’s work to restore kelp and sea otters in its territory. The tribe will decide how to manage the land without oversight by a government agency, said Eli Tome, conservation director for the McKenzie River Trust. The property will not be open to the general public; access will be limited to organized events by invitation from the tribe. Siletz tribal council member Alfred “Buddy” Lane IV said the parcel was part of the original Coast Reservation established in 1855. He also recalled that Siletz elders confined at the Alsea Subagency in the mid-1800s relied on mussels from the same rocks for food. Tribal council member and historian Robert Kentta said the reservation’s boundaries were reduced without the tribe’s agreement or compensation. He said the Yaquina Bay area was removed in the mid-19th century and that another 700,000 acres, including Rocky Shores, were taken out of the reservation in 1875. The site has seen little development, partners said, though its steep, cliff-like terrain can be hazardous. Kentta also pointed to a concrete slab left from equipment once used by a fisherman who, according to local lore, caught Oregon’s largest Dungeness crab there around the 1930s. The transfer follows other Oregon efforts to restore tribal land and access. In 2024, the Siletz reacquired 27 acres at Cape Foulweather with support from a $2 million federal grant. The McKenzie River Trust has also worked with the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians on the restoration of an estuary near Florence.