Current:Home > ScamsVideo: In California, the Northfork Mono Tribe Brings ‘Good Fire’ to Overgrown Woodlands -Wealth Nexus Pro
Video: In California, the Northfork Mono Tribe Brings ‘Good Fire’ to Overgrown Woodlands
View
Date:2025-04-25 20:52:52
The basket weavers were the first to notice that the forest was overdue for a fire.
When the artisans, who are members of the Northfork Mono tribe, foraged at Kirk Ranch in Mariposa, California, for the stalks of sourberry and redbud that make up the fibers of their baskets, they found them bent and brittle. Their weak stems were a sign not only that the overgrown woodland understory was impeding their growth, but that the forest above was in declining health and prone to burn big in a wildfire.
So on the weekend of Feb. 12, members of the tribe cut brush, trimmed limbs off trees, sawed up dead timber and cleared ground around the site. Then they set fire to the grass and scrub of the understory, which was filled with invasives like star thistle, dodder and tarweed that were crowding out the coveted redbud, elderberry and sourberry. Nearby, they ignited piles of timber dead cottonwoods.
Such intentionally-ignited fires in forests and grasslands are called “prescribed burns” by non-native firefighters and land managers, who acknowledge that such blazes must burn more often over much greater acreage to reduce the accumulated timber that is helping to fuel the nation’s steep spike in the size and destructiveness of wildfires. But to indigenous communities, they represent “good fire” and more than just tools to stave off the devastation of wildfires and make forests healthier.
“When we think of fire, we think of fire as a relative. We refer to fire as our kin,” said Melinda Adams, a doctoral student studying Native American use of fire at the University of California, Davis who joined the crew burning the ranch land. “Fire is a partner in this stewardship work.”
More academically known as “cultural burning,” such fires have for centuries been key events for Native American communities to pass on culturally important stories and language, build community and tend to the ecosystems that provide their food, water, fibers, medicines and shelter.
Cultural burns, or “good fire,” are small area fires burning at low intensity and conducted using traditional ecological knowledge, according to Frank Lake, a Native American fire researcher with the U.S. Forest Service, who grew up participating in such burns as a member of the Karuk and Yurok tribes of Northern California. Lake describes such fires as “socio-cultural medicine” that strengthens the intergenerational bonds between tribal members.
“Prescribed fire is medicine,” Lake told the Guardian newspaper. “Traditional burning today has benefits to society as well as supporting what the tribes need.”
At the university, Adams, who is also a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is part of an effort to bring cultural burning practitioners together.
“Think of our elders—people who in their lifetimes have seen climate change, have seen ecosystem change, shifting environments and have seen the land their cultures belong to transformed,” she said. “They’re also the people who steward and tend and care for those lands. They are the knowledge sharers.”
The fires set by the Northfork Mono tribe burn at low intensity on the ground, and the tribal members stay and tend them until they’re out. They douse the remaining embers with water and rake the ash and topsoil to spread out the char to improve the soils. Adams said the burns at Kirk Ranch, which began in 2018, have already shown results in the redbud and sourberry.
“When they started to come back, we saw that their stalks were straighter and there was less breakage,” Adams said.
veryGood! (92)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar falls and breaks hip at Los Angeles concert
- Apple settles Family Sharing plan lawsuit for $25 million. See if you're eligible for payout
- Small plane crashes into power lines in Oregon and kills 3, police say
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Black American solidarity with Palestinians is rising and testing longstanding ties to Jewish allies
- The 18 Hap-Hap-Happiest Secrets About Christmas Vacation Revealed
- There's still time (barely) to consolidate student loans for a shot at debt forgiveness
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- What parents need to know before giving kids melatonin
Ranking
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Bethenny Frankel talks feuds, throwing drinks, and becoming an accidental influencer
- Stephen A. Smith and Steve Kerr feud over Steph Curry comments: 'I'm disgusted with him'
- Will 2024 be a 'normal' year for gas prices? And does that mean lower prices at the pump?
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Quaker Oats recalls some granola bars and cereals nationwide over salmonella risk
- There's still time (barely) to consolidate student loans for a shot at debt forgiveness
- Agave is an increasingly popular substitute for honey and sugar. But is it healthy?
Recommendation
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
BaubleBar's 80% Off Sale Will Have You Saying Joy To The World!
Mayim Bialik is out as a 'Jeopardy!' host, leaving longtime champ Ken Jennings to solo
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle release virtual Christmas card
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
Anthony Anderson to host the Emmy Awards, following strike-related delays
'Summoning the devil's army': Couple arrested after burning cross found outside neighbor's home
Documents from binder with intelligence on Russian election interference went missing at end of Trump's term