Episode Details

What is a Prescribed Burn?

Prescribed burns “reduc[e] excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and trees, encouraging the new growth of native vegetation, and maintaining the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire,” according to Smokey Bear. Prescribed burns are conducted by intentionally igniting a fire on a day with very little to no wind in the forecast, in an area with abundant dry brush that was not recently burned. Fire is a natural part of California’s ecosystems. Prescribed burning mimics natural processes by reducing kindling and other fuel on forest floors, which in turn reduces the likelihood that massive and deadly wildfires will occur.

The History of Prescribed Burns

For thousands of years, Native tribes around the world have practiced cultural burning, otherwise known as prescribed burning. Cultural burning is “the intentional lighting of smaller, controlled fires to provide a desired cultural service, such as promoting the health of vegetation and animals that provide food, clothing, ceremonial items and more,” according to journalist Dave Roos.

Roos notes that Spanish colonizers not only brought disease and violence to America, but a prohibition on cultural burning practices: “one of the first official proclamations by a Spanish bureaucrat in California in 1793 was to outlaw ‘Indian burning,’ which was viewed as a threat to the Spanish cattle herds and pastures.”  According to The Guardian, the US government passed the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians in 1850, which outlawed practices of cultural, prescribed, or intentional burning before California was even a state. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wildfires increased in size and intensity. Roos writes that “Millions of acres were destroyed by a series of deadly wildfires, many caused by sparks thrown from the new transcontinental railroad.”

Fire suppression can lead to a buildup of ‘fuel’ in forest landscapes, including fallen trees and drought-ridden undergrowth that help wildfires start and spread. Frequently controlled burning reduces this accumulated fuel and in turn reduces the intensity and severity of wildfires. 

The Controversy around Prescribed Burns

The practice of prescribed burning is not without controversy. According to Bryant Baker, Conservation Director for ForestWatch, controlled burns could inadvertently exacerbate the problem they are trying to solve by killing native plants and causing the proliferation of invasive, early-drying grasses with low ignition points. Baker argues that this cycle could actually increase fire risk: “The spread of invasive grasses is increasing the frequency of fires. They pose a greater fire risk because they dry out earlier in the year … and have a very low ignition point.”

Current Regulations around Prescribed Burning

Since 2014, Native American tribes are required to obtain a permit signed by the local, state, or federal government before doing a prescribed or cultural burn. In addition to the permit, tribes must have a safety plan in place prior to the burn. These restrictions, while cumbersome, reduce the risk of prescribed burns resulting in uncontrolled fires. Nonetheless, the partnership of firefighters and Native American tribes in the practice of prescribed and cultural burns is becoming more common, bridging over two h