In the last ten years, from 2011 to 2020, the US had the most catastrophic fires in memory. According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2020 alone, wildfires burned 10.3 million acres, nearly 40% of these acres were in California. And climate change is only part of the explanation.
Cultural burning and intentionally set fire, as practiced by Dennis Martinez, are essential tools in managing forests, and restoring Californiaâs fire-adapted ecosystems.
Dennis Martinez and Tribal elders have for decades called for the re-introduction of such practice. However current laws and regulations and the outsized power of the logging and insurance industries have prevented the needed change and limited the power of Native American Tribes. This is the rebroadcast of an audio documentary I recorded in 1996 during a three day stay at Mountain Grove in Oregon. Dennis was restoring a 28 acre section of the 420 acre forest that was clearcut in the 1930s and 40s. He was preparing it for the first intentional fires set since 1850 when burning was outlawed.
Dennis Martinez said that âwe assume that this land always looked this way. But when Spanish Conquistadors rode up the West Coast they were astonished to see that they entered forests that looked like parks with widely spaced trees. California natives used controlled fires to create these parks that in turn provided food and shelter to them and thousands of animals. Few people still hold that precious knowledge.â
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