Indigenous peoples worldwide have practiced fire ecology for many thousands of years. Yet, today, most of the colonial governments still discount indigenous knowledge of their environment and that indigenous peoples know how to effectively and efficiently manage their lands for food production, for seasonal maintenance, and for annual renewal of the land. The problem of ignoring indigenous knowledge has come to the breaking point as land management practices in many areas of the world, based on capitalist models of resource extraction to create wealth, have been out of balance for generations and this is leading to massive fuel buildups and huge catastrophic burns. The whole situation is exasperated by Climate Change because conditions are warming on the earth and this is helping augment an already dangerous situation. For examples see recent histories of the western United States, Canada, the Amazon, and Australia for giant unmanageable burns in the last decade.
Public policy is slowing changing as the people living in these dangerous areas are seeing firsthand the dangers of their management policies. Indigenous peoples now are seen in some areas as having the answers to many of the catastrophic conditions. Tribes and indigenous experts are now consulting on ways to safely manage vast forest lands of the Western U.S.
I am not a fire expert, but have documented some historic fire events in my history narratives. These narratives may be useful as we continue to look for ways to change land management policies and steward our lands in a safe manner.
After Halting Native Burning, Came Grasshoppers
Signs of Burning over the Columbia Slough
Is Climate Change Always the Reason for Wildfires
Agent of Rebirth, The Kalapuyan Culture in Linn County
Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie-Upper Umpqua
Surviving Indigenous Landscapes in the Willamette Valley: the Mid-Valley Buttes