On a late June afternoon in the remote Northern California town of Orleans, Michael Sanchez hopped into a wildland fire truck. He鈥檚 the prescribed fire and fuel specialist for the Karuk Tribe, and helps organize their cultural burns, including the three planned that day.
鈥淥ne of the burns is my house,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I've been kind of taking the main lead on preparing that.鈥�
While small, the burns represent a major step forward in the tribe鈥檚 longstanding to promote cultural burning. It鈥檚 the fruit of years of advocacy, and collaboration with federal agencies and nonprofits to bring down barriers to it.
In 2022, California established a to reduce the financial risk when for when fires set by landowners and tribes cause damage. Then last fall, (S.B. 310) was unanimously passed and signed. It allows federally recognized tribes to enter into agreements with the state鈥檚 natural resources agency to bypass permitting and regulatory requirements in order to conduct cultural burns.
In a 2024 , Karuk Chairman Russell Attebery said state and federal authorities tried 鈥渢o stamp out鈥� Indigenous burning well into the 20th century. He called S.B. 310 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�
Burning as 鈥榗ultural norm鈥�
Heading west on the Klamath River Highway toward the edge of town, Sanchez drove past an orange sign advising motorists of the planned cultural burns. S.B. 310 has made burning much simpler, he said.
鈥淵ou see the sign right here? That's one of the requirements,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎nd then also a 72-hour notification to local agencies, Forest Service, volunteer [fire].鈥�
There are a few other steps - like getting written permission from landowners and sharing burn locations - but that鈥檚 about it.
The first burn of the day was in the backyard of a home kitty corner from Sanchez鈥檚. Using lighters, a trio of Karuk men set the dry grass and dead leaves ablaze, and kept it in check with a simple hose.
Standing watch, Bill Tripp, the Tribe鈥檚 director of natural resources and one of the country鈥檚 most prominent cultural burning advocates, said the fires will help protect homes.
鈥淭oday we're just trying to get rid of this stuff that's going to catch an ember and start a spot fire in the summer,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t a time when it won鈥檛 create spot fires by burning it.鈥�
Bill was taught to burn as a young boy by his great-grandmother and other relatives. They were bearers of the many centuries-old tradition of using fire for ceremonies and the care of key animal and plant species like hazel, used in their renowned basketry.
鈥淢y great-grandmother, she always said that about 80% of our traditional food, fiber, and medicinal resources are fire-dependent,鈥� he told in February. 鈥淲hen she was young 鈥� and this was all done by more people more commonly 鈥� there was a lot more open space. There was a lot more spring greens and those kinds of things, a lot healthier foods, a lot more people with better materials for their basket-weaving sticks, a lot more smaller deadwood that could be broken and carried back to the home for cooking and heating. And so our relationship with fire connects us to all of these things.鈥�
A team of researchers, including Tripp, have that prior to colonization, thousands of fires were set by Karuk every year, burning some 15% of the territory.
Tripp is the only Karuk Tribal Council-recognized practitioner approved to oversee burns. But the Karuk have created a process to train more cultural burn practitioners. He and others see these small projects as a way for members of the tribe to rebuild skills 鈥� and a sense of setting fires as 鈥渃ommon practice.鈥�
鈥淚 would like to see 10 houses 鈥� just get together 鈥� have a barbecue and get it all burnt in a two- or three-day window,鈥� he said, adding later: 鈥渢his kind of thing is no longer a cultural norm, and it needs to be again.鈥�
Reforms spread
The Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission said in their that beneficial fire, which includes cultural and prescribed burning, 鈥渋s necessary to restore fire-adapted ecosystems and reduce the risk of high-severity wildfires that pose a significant threat to communities.鈥�
鈥淧olicy change is needed to enable a new relationship with fire, one in which fire is no longer an existential risk to communities and landscapes, but instead an integral and beneficial component of our human and natural systems,鈥� the commission鈥檚 final report continued.
鈥淲e don't need to reinvent the wheel here,鈥� said Dylan Kruse, president of Sustainable Northwest, a conservation nonprofit. 鈥淲e just need to talk with people who have lived on these landscapes and worked with these resources for millennia.鈥�
Inspired by reforms in California, the group helped push for a claims fund in and . While rare, intentional burns can escape control and cause significant harm.
鈥淧eople want to do a lot more prescribed fire, we want to do more cultural burning,鈥� said Kruse. 鈥淏ut the biggest limiting factor or concern for landowners is around liability issues.鈥�
He encourages other Western states to work with Tribal Nations to do what they can to remove barriers to cultural burning.
鈥淚t's a great tool,鈥� said Kruse, 鈥渋t's an underutilized tool, it's right there in front of us.鈥�
Cultural burning on federal land?
The Karuk hope to eventually do cultural burns on Forest Service land 鈥� and it鈥檚 Tripp鈥檚 feeling that the potential impact of S.B 310 is limited without the ability to do so.
鈥淭echnically, we could burn on National Forest if the Forest Service would defer to state law,鈥� he said.
Others say that by achieving success on a smaller scale 鈥� like the backyard burns 鈥� they can build trust with federal partners, like the U.S. Forest Service, which could open that door.
鈥淗ow do we get there?鈥� asked Greg Moon, the Tribe鈥檚 fire management officer. 鈥淲e get there by small victories.鈥�
鈥淪.B. 310 is a great step in the right direction,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut we need our federal partners 鈥� [Bureau of Indian Affairs], Forest Service, Department of Interior 鈥� to start recognizing the value in what we're doing and what the state has actually put forward. We're not there yet. I see that we would be moving in that direction to be more collaborative, cooperative with our federal partners.鈥�
In response to a request for comment, Six Rivers National Forest District Ranger Nolan Colegrove said 鈥渨e definitely support the activity as it has many benefits, and we have been working with [the] Tribe on including elements of cultural burning on [National Forest] lands. However, there are some federal rules that are currently not aligned with the S.B. 310 provisions to allow the exact same things on [agency] administered lands.鈥�
Start burning young
The next day, just off the Klamath River on the outskirts of Orleans, a small team was burning a strip of black around the edge of a large, grass field to corral the main burn.
鈥淥nce we get a black line around it, then we can let it rip,鈥� said Jacob Tripp, Bill Tripp鈥檚 brother and part of the natural resource department鈥檚 fuels program. .
Once cleared, the plan is to create a playing field for Stick Game, a rowdy traditional sport of the Karuk and other nearby tribes.
Trailing behind the slow marching flames, a group of teenagers 鈥� seasonal workers for the Karuk Department of Natural Resources - cool the edges of the fire with bladder bags, firefighting tools that resemble a watergun attached to a water-filled backpack.
Among them is Chloe King, the 16-year-old secretary for the Karuk Youth Council. This is her first burn.
I feel like there's a lot of adrenaline going through me right now, but I definitely feel like I'm doing the best thing for the land right now,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm not really scared.鈥�
Once the black line is in, the burners start lighting strips through the interior. Unsatisfied with the speed of progress, Jacob pulled out a propane torch.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a modern ignition stick,鈥� he said, laughing.
As he turned the corner near the start of the black line, the flames intensified, and then tore through the remaining dry grass. Boxed in by the burnt perimeter, the flames diminished almost as quickly as they had roared to life. Smoke rose from the blackened field, glowing in the diminishing light.
鈥淭his is awesome!鈥� King yelled. 鈥淭hat was crazy.鈥�
Despite a few singed hairs, it appeared King had caught the fire bug.
Some may worry over the idea of teenagers being so close to fire, but Bill sees it as a key part of reestablishing fire as commonplace.
鈥淚t's a really important part of our Karuk educational process is to make sure that we're putting fire in the hands of our children at a young age and, and teaching them how to be responsible with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s they're establishing their principles in life.鈥�
Just like his great-grandmother did with him.