OUTCOME: Fire Resilient Forests

Problem

Significant barriers limit the use of beneficial fire for fuel management, forest and landscape restoration, and cultural purposes. These include some barriers specific to Tribal practitioners and other barriers that affect all burners.

Solution

Beneficial Fire Barriers - Address policy, regulatory, legal, and cultural barriers that limit the use of beneficial fire for fuel management, forest and landscape restoration, and cultural purposes.

Background and Context

California Tribes use Indigenous knowledge and practices, including TEK, developed through thousands of years of interacting with the land (Cajete 2000). Cultural fire is one of many tools used to steward the landscape. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing to the present day, the many uses of cultural fire were unjustly prohibited by local, state, and federal agencies. Despite the risk, California Tribes never stopped stewarding their land in the most ecologically and culturally appropriate manner possible. Such stewardship includes the continued use of fire to manipulate the vegetation. The policies and regulations that prevent Tribes, Tribal communities, and Tribal CBOs from conducting cultural burns also limit the use of fire by other community members and CBOs. Prescribed fire has been assumed to be the duty and role of local, state, and federal fire agencies to the exclusion of virtually all other entities and communities, despite congressional and state direction to honor the principles of Tribal self-governance and self-determination.

Prescribed fire and cultural burning – while not the same – are both essential tools that use fire to manage forests and other fire-adapted ecosystems for ecological health, reduce excess hazardous fuels, create more fire-resilient and climate change resilient landscapes. However, there are significant barriers to the use of beneficial fire by Tribes and others. GOOD FIRE: Current Barriers to the Expansion of Cultural Burning and Prescribed Fire in California and Recommended Solutions, commissioned by the Karuk Tribe, is a comprehensive look at existing barriers that Tribal and other burners face when trying to intentionally burn to manage hazardous fuels and restore ecosystem resilience. These barriers include a lack of understanding and respect for Tribal sovereignty, an inability within agencies to work with Tribes to implement cultural burns, and a lack of recognition and support for cultural fire practitioners. Issues that affect burners more broadly include air quality regulations, lack of ability to purchase insurance, liability concerns, and permitting difficulties. These factors limit the use of both cultural and prescribed fire.

Recommendations

The Good Fire Report’s Recommended Changes, advocating for policy, legislative, and regulatory actions, should be fully implemented. Additional Key Actions to address barriers to beneficial fire can be found in California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire. Capacity and funding to support the ability of cultural fire practitioners and prescribed burners to implement beneficial fire in the region should be increased, including the development of new insurance mechanisms to support burners. Given the critical need to scale up delivery of prescribed and cultural fire across the NCRP region and across California, and the current fire suppression focus, workload, and incentives driving state fire agencies, the state should consider setting up a new state agency under CNRA to coordinate the delivery of prescribed and cultural fire at scale in close coordination with local, regional, and Tribal partners.

Coordination and improved communication about planned cultural and prescribed burning is needed, both between agencies, including CARB, and burners, and with the community. Good communication with CARB and local air districts about permissible burn days will increase the ability of planners to burn more acres. Advanced communication with the community is important so that vulnerable community members can prepare and take precautions. Wildfire smoke from unplanned fire events can be unavoidable, as citizens across the country learned in 2021. Cultural and prescribed fire used to reduce hazardous fuels can limit exposure to such risks. In addition, PBAs and other organizations sponsoring burns can provide outreach to local communities about the benefits of prescribed fire in order to increase awareness and acceptance, as well as tolerance of smoke from beneficial fire. Community support is also enhanced by good communication about planned burns via social media and other channels, to allay fears of wildfire when prescribed fire smoke is spotted near communities. Practitioners should continue working to gain community support for using fire as a tool for multiple objectives, and providing outreach about the traditional and ecological roles of fire.

Actions

Support and implement the recommended changes outlined in the Good Fire Report regarding barriers, permitting and compliance, smoke, liability, and insurance to further beneficial fire in the region.

Support implementation of the Vision and Key Actions of California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire.

Support training for burners to better understand how prescribed fire projects are permitted, and how projects can occur without creating unhealthy smoke impacts to local residents.

Facilitate increased and improved communication between burners and local Air District staff.

Consider supporting Air Districts and fire agencies with technical support so that they can improve technical assistance and data management related to burn requests.

Support outreach to local communities about beneficial fire in order to increase awareness and acceptance, and tolerance of smoke from prescribed and cultural burning.

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