The Karuk Tribe has been conducting controlled burns in the fire-prone Klamath Mountains for centuries. Researchers from Oregon State University are now using modern technology to better understand these traditional practices of fire stewardship. By partnering with the Karuk Tribe, researchers have developed a computer simulation model that provides insight into how the Tribe historically used fire to maintain ecosystem health.
The study, published in Ecological Applications, reveals that prior to the arrival of European colonizers, cultural burning was widespread across the landscape. It is estimated that there were approximately 6,972 cultural ignitions annually, with an average of 6.5 ignitions per year for each Indigenous fire steward. The study focused on 1,000 square miles of Karuk Aboriginal Territory in the western Klamath Mountains of northern California, an area characterized by a fire-prone ecosystem that historically experienced frequent fires of low or moderate severity.
Skye Greenler, who led the partnership as a graduate research fellow in the OSU College of Forestry, emphasizes that the information used in the model has been held by Karuk Tribal members for centuries. The new methods developed by the researchers aim to showcase the importance of Indigenous cultural stewardship in maintaining ecosystem health in the Klamath Mountains.
