This Halloween, the Blue Lake Rancheria (BLR) Tribal Environmental Protection Agency (TEPA) got dressed up in fire protective gear in order to conduct a cultural burn on Leavey Ranch. This cultural burn was led by Dr. Frank Kanahwa Lake, and was attended by students from Karley Rojas’ NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab Class, the Humboldt Prescribed Burn Association, and CalFire.
Leavey Ranch is a historic 240-acre property adjacent to BLR Tribal Lands that BLR has recently assumed stewardship of, by a land return made possible by the Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation. BLR is implementing traditional ecological knowledge in order to properly care for this land in good stewardship.
This cultural burn set out to enact understory pile burns as fuel reduction in a second growth Redwood (Voupul) forest, while creating the opportunity for future broadcast burns in the understory. The burn also supported a Hazel (Dubulush) grove in epicormic resprouting for food and basket material. Visiting students and BLR staff learned about ideal pile composition and seasonally-timed application of fire in Redwood (Voupul) understories, while deepening their relationship with Hazel (Dubulush). In the years to come, the impact of these cultural burns on culturally important species will be monitored.
We express our immense gratitude to the practitioners, support personnel, and attendees at the burn, including our lead practitioner Dr. Frank Lake, invited community members, students from Karley Rojas’ NAS 333: Food Sovereignty Lab Class, the Humboldt Prescribed Burn Association, and CalFire.
“I am so honored to supporting the return of cultural fire to the Land- care and medicine that the Land needs to heal and return to health. This is a keystone component of a holistic restoration program, looking to build Indigenized futures for Blue Lake Rancheria’s landscapes.” –Karley Rojas, BLR Native Plant Specialist
Originally Published: 11/24/2025