The California condor should soon soar over its traditional sites again.
The northern California-based Yorok Tribe, whose tradition depicts the bird as sacred, has been granted permission to release condors bred in captivity to live on the Redwood Coast, The Associated Press reported.
Bringing the large bird back to California skies is part of a bigger conservation movement among the Yorok, who have been working to increase the salmon population and keep forests healthy.
Tribe officials have been researching the condor project for five years and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with state and federal agencies as well as a condor conservation group.
Experts place the number of California condors worldwide at just 400; the bird once roamed from the Pacific Coast to Mexico to Canada.
They plan to release condors in a test to see if the area can sustain the endangered birds. The first condors should be sent out in the next one to three years, and officials are looking at seven sites as options. The spots under consideration include land in Redwood National and State Parks and stretches of private land.
The tribes plan to gather private funding for the project since federal funding like won't be available. The initiative will likely cost around $400,000, tribal biologist Chris West told the AP.
Along with being sacred in Yorok tradition, the condor is important for its feathers, which are worn during tribal dances.
"When a species like condor or eagle gives you material for your regalia, it is considered their spirit is in that, too. They are singing with you, and praying with you," tribal microbiologist Tiana Williams told the AP. "We can get feathers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but it's not the same thing as being able to go out there and collect the feathers we need from condors flying over our own skies."
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