Indigenous Fire Stewardship in the Klamath Mountains: How 21st-Century Technology is Revealing Long-Lost Traditional Practices

The Karuk Tribe has a long history of conducting burns in the fire-prone Klamath Mountains. Researchers are now using 21st-century technology to understand these traditional practices of fire stewardship. Partnering with the Karuk Tribe, researchers from Oregon State University have used a computer simulation model to uncover how the Tribe historically used fire for ecosystem health.

Collaborating with the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, OSU scientists developed historical estimates for cultural ignition locations, frequency, and timing. Skye Greenler, who led the partnership when she was a graduate research fellow in the OSU College of Forestry, highlighted the significance of this research in showcasing the extent of Indigenous cultural stewardship across the landscape. The findings of this study were recently published in Ecological Applications.

Before the arrival of European colonizers, cultural burning was widespread across the landscape. An estimated 6,972 cultural ignitions occurred annually, with an average of 6.5 ignitions per year for each Indigenous fire steward. The research focused on 1,000 square miles of Karuk Aboriginal Territory in the western Klamath Mountains of northern California, a fire-prone ecosystem that has recently experienced severe wildfires.