Roughly 1,100 acres along Washington’s Elwha River could soon return to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe under a bill passed by Congress and awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature. The land includes former dam and reservoir sites where ancestral villages, fishing grounds and a sacred creation site were submerged for about a century. The proposed transfer would give the tribe authority to help guide restoration and long-term care of the river corridor, which runs from the Olympic Mountains to the coast near the tribe’s reservation west of Port Angeles. Tribal leaders say the land is also essential to cultural practices and access to traditional foods and medicines. The transfer would be a major step in the aftermath of the $325 million Elwha River dam-removal project, the largest of its kind when the dams came down. The final sections were removed 12 years ago, allowing salmon to reach habitat upriver and helping reveal places of deep importance to the Klallam people. Carbon dating at one location found evidence of Klallam life more than 8,000 years ago. The land’s return would mark its first restoration to the tribe since the Point No Point Treaty of 1855, under which Native nations ceded vast areas of land in exchange for promises that included healthcare, education and continued rights to hunt, fish and gather in customary areas. “Our land isn’t just land. The river isn’t just the river. The salmon aren’t just salmon,” said Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Chair Melissa Gilman. “This is part of who we are as people.” Tribal leaders toured the lands with national park staff last week as they prepared for a possible transition. Gilman said she hopes tribal members will help shape future plans, including expanded restoration work and opportunities for young people to learn on the land. The river’s recovery is already bringing back cultural and family practices. Tribal members have been able to fish the Elwha for four years since the fishery resumed, renewing opportunities to pass down knowledge about salmon and share the catch. Russell Hepfer, a former longtime tribal vice chair, said the river needed both returning fish and the families connected to them. The dam removals have also become a model for broader ecosystem restoration and Indigenous-led recovery efforts. For the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the proposed land transfer would add stewardship of the river’s newly exposed places to the return of salmon—helping reconnect the community with a landscape central to its identity.