"'Cultural burning' helps the tribe pass on its stories and language, improves resources for its artisans and helps prevent destructive wildfires."
"The basket weavers were the first to notice that the forest was overdue for a fire.
When the artisans, who are members of the Northfork Mono tribe, foraged at Kirk Ranch in Mariposa, California, for the stalks of sourberry and redbud that make up the fibers of their baskets, they found them bent and brittle. Their weak stems were a sign not only that the overgrown woodland understory was impeding their growth, but that the forest above was in declining health and prone to burn big in a wildfire.
So on the weekend of Feb. 12, members of the tribe cut brush, trimmed limbs off trees, sawed up dead timber and cleared ground around the site. Then they set fire to the grass and scrub of the understory, which was filled with invasives like star thistle, dodder and tarweed that were crowding out the coveted redbud, elderberry and sourberry. Nearby, they ignited piles of timber dead cottonwoods."
Video By Adam Sings in the Timber; Text By Michael Kodas for Inside Climate News March 6, 2021.
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