萝莉少女

In late September, firefighters in flame-resistant Nomex were strung out along a fireline. It ran midslope through a pine and hardwood forest above the Klamath River and the small northern California town of Orleans.

Several members of the Karuk tribe were laying down strands of fire with drip torches.

Aja Conrad, who runs the tribal natural resource department鈥檚 environmental education field institute, was the firing boss trainee. She kept a close eye as the strips burned together and smoke filled the air.

鈥淐an you just keep an eye on that and maybe not put too much fire below it?鈥� she told one of her burners.

鈥淐opy that.鈥�

Pikyav

Conrad鈥檚 grandparents 鈥� who helped raise her 鈥� worked in fire themselves.

鈥淚 grew up kind of a little bit of a fire camp brat living off their snacks and Gatorade and all that,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it's a little bit in my blood in more ways than one.鈥�

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

For , the Karuk have set fire to their territory to actively manage forests, and plant and animal species critical for sustenance, ceremonies, and other cultural purposes. The name of the field institute Conrad runs comes from the Karuk word , which means 鈥渢o fix,鈥� she explained. Restoring balance with the natural world and keeping traditions like burning alive are key goals.

鈥淚t's a real big part of our cultural identity and who we are, and so it feels damn good to be out here doing that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just knowledge for knowledge鈥檚 sake. It鈥檚 about how to steward this place, it's about actively, physically tending to this place and rebuilding these sacred relationships.鈥�

The Bacon Flat burn was the first of several during this year鈥檚 Klamath Prescribed Fire Training Exchange 鈥� or . Dozens of similar events have been held around the world, training thousands of people since the late 2000s.

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

As with many prescribed burns, one of its key purposes was to protect nearby communities from wildfire. But listed right along with that in the burn plan is supporting cultural objectives 鈥� like promoting oak woodlands and plant species used for basketry.

鈥楢 life-giving force鈥� 

Down at the bottom of the burn, pumps were moving water uphill to help keep flames in check. Posted up nearby was Karuna Greenberg, one of of the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership, which puts on the . The Karuk Tribe itself, the nearby National Forest and several local groups are all part of the effort. Greenberg, who is not a tribal member, said several things distinguish KTREX.

鈥淲e are really trying to build a local workforce, building that capacity to even be able to take on wildfire events, to be able to have that capacity here to really scale up our prescribed fire to much more of a landscape level,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also just very Indigenous-led. It has such a strong cultural aspect to it.鈥�

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

Greenberg grew up in the area, and has had a complex journey with fire. In the late 1980s, a major blaze took out her whole neighborhood.

鈥淲e were visiting my grandparents on the East Coast and got a phone call that said, 鈥榶ou know your house is going to burn. What do you want out of it?鈥欌�� she recounted.

鈥淚 came back to this landscape that was completely changed,鈥� she added. 鈥淎nd it's hard not to think of fire as this incredibly destructive force.鈥�

But in the wake of the devastation, wildflowers surged back. And then 鈥� more slowly 鈥� black oak woodlands, berry species and other plants returned, drawing more wildlife back to the area. She described the process as a 鈥渞ebirth.鈥�

鈥淲hen you start to pay attention, you can really recognize that fire is a life-giving force,鈥� Greenberg said. 鈥淎nd that switch in your mindset is really transformative.鈥�

Burning as a community

The next morning, Greg Moon 鈥� the tribe鈥檚 fire management officer and incident commander 鈥� praised the assembled firefighters for the long, hard shifts they put in the day before.

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

鈥淵ou guys (can) understand now what you're doing by building that buffer on the mid slope, and then the units below that, setting us up for success for the next few days,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o that we can burn a little more liberally, with a little more intention as far as getting those acres.鈥�

鈥淪o, I'd like you to just make a fist like this,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd give your neighbor right there a fist bump.鈥�

In his nearby office at the Karuk Department of Natural Resources, the 36-year fire veteran and member of the nearby Hoopa Valley Tribe said that in KTREX鈥檚 early years, they had to bring in people from outside of the area to put on burns.

鈥淲ell now, this many years later, our folks are certified, our folks are qualified and they have the experience to pull off these burns as leadership,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, we are at the level where we can start putting these burns on ourselves as a community.鈥�

But capacity is only a part of the equation. He said the Bacon Flat burn was one of the larger KTREX operations to date.

鈥淭his one is over 100 acres on very tough land,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t's around structures, and so that tells you that we've gained the trust of the community to burn around their property.鈥�

Moon said the Karuk are 鈥渓eading the way鈥� in Indian Country when it comes to collaborative, community-based burning.

鈥淲e learned that we can't do it alone,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou could have all the money in the world, but 鈥� if you're by yourself, you can't do it. So, working with the nonprofits in the community, working with the community itself and the agencies around us, the Karuk Tribe has found a key way to move forward.鈥�

And he sees the idea 鈥渟preading across the country.鈥�

Stepping stones 

For many, KTREX and burns like this are not the end goal, just waypoints en route to something far more ambitious.

Tribal Natural Resources Director Bill Tripp was part of a research team that tried to calculate the of pre-colonization burning among his ancestors. They estimated some 7,000 annual ignitions that burned 15% of a large swath of the Karuk鈥檚 territory.

鈥淚t's a whole societal system that used to be in place here that we're trying to get back to some semblance of as soon as we can,鈥� he said.

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

In centuries past, Karuk people 鈥� using their deep knowledge of the landscape and climate 鈥� would conduct burns solo. That鈥檚 a sharp contrast to the dozens of people involved with Bacon Flat.

鈥淭he biggest thing that I think people have a hard time grasping is, you know, people perceive that you have to do all these things like build fire lines and 鈥� have so many people,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd in all reality, just a few people could do a lot of really good work with fire just by knowing that hour in the day to light a certain specific type of thing in a certain place.鈥�

He said getting there requires legislative and policy changes, as well as more social acceptance and burning 鈥� though he noted that some parts of Karuk territory have seen so much fire in recent years that this sort of burning is starting to look feasible.

In 2022, the California legislature passed a establishing a claims fund that could be used for losses that occur during prescribed or cultural burns by nonpublic entities, including 鈥渃ultural fire practitioners.鈥� Its explicit purpose was to 鈥渋ncrease the pace and scale of the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning 鈥� and to reduce barriers for conducting prescribed fires and cultural burning.鈥�

And then, shortly after Tripp spoke to the Mountain West News Bureau, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed . It allows the state natural resources agency to enter into written agreements with federally recognized California tribes that would exempt them from state permitting and regulatory requirements for cultural burning.

In an opinion before its passage, Karuk Chairman Russell Attebery called the measure 鈥渁n opportunity for California to 鈥榳alk the walk鈥� when it comes to healing and reconciliation of a violent history towards Indigenous peoples and the misguided exclusion of fire.鈥�

Murphy Woodhouse

/

Boise State Public Radio

鈥淚magine if you had two people burning in 20 different places, and burning 3 or 4 acres,鈥� Tripp said of the potential impact of the reforms. 鈥淭hat's significantly more return on your investment of time and resources. And so having systems in place to back that up and govern that to where it's not putting others at risk becomes the challenge. That's where the claims fund comes in, that's where the in-lieu-of-permit agreement process comes in.鈥�

It鈥檚 taken a lot of work to get to where the Karuk are now, and a lot of work remains.

But efforts like KTREX, Tripp said, are 鈥渟tepping stones.鈥�

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, 萝莉少女 in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .