On Wednesday, June 25th, and Thursday, June 26th, ๐๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ (๐๐๐ฅ) hosted the third annual Cultural Burn Seminar, coordinated by ๐ฌ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ, and ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐, assisted by ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ (๐ง๐๐ฃ๐), and ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ (๐ข๐๐ฆ). The seminar on Wednesday involved speakers from many different organizations across the state, including ๐ฌ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐, ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐, and ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐.
On Thursday, a large caravan headed over to ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต to start the burn. Individuals from different organizations came together, learning about fire safety and helping one another. All of the knowledge shared is inclusive to the broader community. Michael Shackelford, ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐บ๐ฎ๐ป and ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐, led the group in a prayer before lighting the first fire of the burn.
Fire is dynamic, and can be a risk to everybody. Cultural burns like this are beneficial and necessary to minimize risk of wide-scale wildfires. For this reason, we are honored to prepare the wildlife and land we are stewarding for a long, healthy future in which we can ensure sustainable land management for future generations. ๐๐๐ฅ has been given stewardship of ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต, and this was the first big step in ensuring long-term conservation and education opportunities and in honoring the legacy of Jim Leavey.
โRedwood ecosystems are pyrodependent, and intentional fire regimes practiced by Indigenous communities were essential for maintaining ecosystem health. At ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต, second-growth redwood woodlands and understories have been degraded by lack of traditional land management practices following intensive logging in the late 1800s. The legacy hazel grove and other ethnobotanical evidence indicates the use of cultural fire prior to colonization.โ โ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ท๐ฎ๐, ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐
โThe future culture of cultural burning is everybody, not just Tribes, but Tribes have the deep, traditional ecological knowledge they are willing to share in order to accomplish that. And thatโs huge. Itโs very different than European settlers coming over and saying fire is badโ โ ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ก๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐
โEverything starts with fire, and ends with fire in this world so, putting fire back into the environment is something we need to do.โ โ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต is a historic 240-acre property adjacent to ๐๐๐ฅ Tribal Lands that ๐๐๐ฅ has recently assumed stewardship of, by a land return made possible by the Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation.
Originally Published: 7/7/2025