{"id":33240,"date":"2023-09-11t16:57:31","date_gmt":"2023-09-11t16:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=33240"},"modified":"2023-09-11t17:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11t17:09:23","slug":"fire-cultural-burning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/fire-cultural-burning\/","title":{"rendered":"essay | not all fire is the same: we need to distinguish, not just extinguish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
a future where cultural burning and prescribed burning are practiced side by side \u2014 one cultural burning leader in california describes this as the ideal outcome in a state where extreme wildfires are becoming the norm. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n earlier this year, several dozen small fires burned through 50 acres in the small unincorporated community of mariposa, california. over 100 people watched the flames, yet no one complained or rushed to put out the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n that\u2019s because these weren\u2019t your typical fires \u2014 instead, it was a cultural burn, conducted by tribal cultural burners to rejuvenate native species like the oak tree and stimulate<\/a> regrowth of resources for medicinal and cultural uses. cultural burning involves small-scale burns often targeted toward a specific plant resource and is careful<\/a> not to destroy the vegetation outright.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n nobody in the valley even knew we burned,\u201d the honorable ron w. goode, tribal chairman of the north fork mono tribe in central california, said. goode has led countless cultural burns, all of which are intended to produce minimal smoke and create defensible space<\/a>, or an area of less flammable plants. this practice mitigates<\/a> fire risk amid intensifying<\/a> fire seasons without detrimental impacts to surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n