A Yurok firefighter manages the boundary of an indigenous prescribed burn near Weitchpec, CA, during a fire training exchange, or TREX in October. In recent years, indigenous prescribed fire practices have come to attention as wildfires have raged destructively across California.

Sunset over the Klamath River and its forests, near Weitchpec, CA, at the beginning of October. “The Klamamth-Siskiyou bioregion, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world… has the most diverse conifer forest in the world. That’s right along a major travel route between Shasta and Karuk territory", says USFS research ecologist and Yurok descendant, Dr. Frank Lake.

Dr. Frank Lake, a USFS research ecologist and of Yurok descent, carefully selects stalks of beargrass from the forest floor that was culturally burned three months prior, in June above Orleans, CA. The low intensity of the 6-acre prescribed fire did not kill the beargrass plants, but removed older leaves that were unsuitable for traditional weaving, as well as leaf litter. Dr. Lake’s work focuses on indigenous burning across California.

A sprig of evergreen huckleberry rests atop a Yurok traditional winnowing tray alongside baskets of woven confer roots, maidenhair ferns and beargrass, on the culturally burned property of Dr. Frank Lake in Orleans, CA. All of these traditional materials are managed to their ideal harvest state through indigenous fire.

Dr. Frank Lake cracks and extracts a beaked hazelnut from its shell. The hazelnuts grow on his property in Orleans, CA, where they are carefully managed through traditional Yurok prescribed burning.

Margo Robbins not only leads Training Exchanges, but also weaves her culture’s celebrated baskets. “We use TREX to ensure the continuance of our culture and protect cultural resources. Our culture is fire dependent. Our people are hunters, gatherers and basket weavers,” says Robbins. “Restoration of the land, and preservation of our culture is a number one priority for people living on the Yurok Reservation. We MUST put fire on the ground if we are to continue the tradition of basket weaving.”

Young beargrass and acorns stand out against the dark background of charred forest litter in an area of forest that was culturally burned by the Yurok Native community three months prior. This acreage, near Orleans, CA, provides easily accessible tan oak acorns for food and beargrass for basketry materials, alongside other plants with cultural uses.

Two halves of a forest separated by a fire line near Orleans, CA in September. The charred side is from a recent indigenous prescribed burn by the Yurok community, and demonstrates the open nature of the forest after a burn, the reduction of fuels, and the sequestration of carbon in the charcoal on the ground. In high-intensity wildfires, the trees die and the majority of the carbon in their wood is released into the atmosphere.

Firefighters participating in a Yurok-led cultural fire training exchange (TREX), practice controlled burning, coordination, and fire management skills near Weitchpec, CA, in early October. Although the widely used practice of burning brush piles is not traditional, it is a skillset that supports indigenous burning.

Margo Robbins, of the Cultural Fire Management Council leads firefighters as they light an indigenous prescribed burn with bundles of wormwood in ceremony, near Weitchpec, CA.

A section of forest neat Weitchpec, CA, burned by a moderate-intensity wildfire shows that the fire has killed all of the trees despite having stayed below the forest canopy. The low-intensity fires of indigenous prescribed burns keeps older trees alive and can be specifically used to protect species of value.

Blaine McKinnon reviews the lay of the land with firefighters training in indigenous cultural burning at a training exchange (TREX), near Weitchpec, CA. Both modern firefighting techniques and indigenous practices inform each other during TREX.

A firefighter lays down a line of fire during an indigenous cultural burn near Weitchpec, CA.

A Yurok tribal member fishes for salmon using a dipnet at his traditional fishing grounds on the Klamath River in late September. Declines in the spring salmon here have forced closures of the fishery. Historically it is believed that smoke from indigenous burning shaded regional rivers during periods of the highest water temperatures, increasing the survival rate of spawning salmon.

Firefighters participating in a training exchange put on by the Cultural Fire Management Council refill their drip torches in the midst of a broadcast prescribed burn near Weitchpec, CA in October.

An experienced Yurok TREX leader lays down fire with his drip torch, careful not to get caught behind his lines.

Smoke from an indigenous prescribed burn filters through the forest canopy on Yurok lands, near Weitchpec, CA in October.

A firefighter runs quickly over the charred ground of a low-intensity indigenous prescribed burn near Weitchpec, CA, in October. The small flames of this fire are created and maintained through a deep knowledge of ideal climatic conditions like humidity, plant species, and soil composition. The fire is created and ‘walked’ along a small section at a time to prevent increasing its intensity.

Ali Meders-Knight, Master TEK Practitioner and Mechoopda tribal member, harvests grass stems from deergrass (Ósoko sáwi), that have been selectively managed through the use of Indigenous-prescribed burns at Verbena Fields in Chico, California.

This open grassland at Big Chico Ecological Preserve, CA, is created and maintained by indigenous burning. Grassland environments which once covered California are now few, and the biodiversity of grass species has declined precipitously. With cultural burning under Miwok tribal member Dr. Don Hankins, a myriad of native species have returned to these grasslands.

Prescribed burns, though smoky, have low flames and temperatures, ensuring their spread horizontally rather than vertically through the forest. These firefighters manage the edge of the fire to keep it from spreading across the prescribed boundary.

The open view of a Yurok culturally burned area in Orleans, CA. The airy, open nature of the forest here contrasts the tight and fire-prone the unburnt forest in the background. The continuation of ancient cultural burning reminds us what is possible in fire-prone California.