• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Southern Rockies Fire Science Network

Southern Rockies Fire Science Network

JFSP Fire Science Exchange Network

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our Partners
  • Subregions
    • Why Subregions?
    • Black Hills
    • Wyoming Sagebrush
    • Uinta Basin
    • Wasatch Plateaus/Mountains
    • Rocky Mountains
    • Canyonlands/Desert Montane
  • Events
    • Event Summaries
  • Resources
    • Pre and Post-Fire Emergency Resources
    • Research & Publications
    • Maps, Models & Apps
    • COVID-19
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Returning fire to the land: celebrating traditional knowledge and fire

Full Publication Here

North American tribes have traditional knowledge about fire effects on ecosystems, habitats, and resources. For millennia, tribes have used fire to promote valued resources. Sharing our collective understanding of fire, derived from traditional and western knowledge systems, can benefit landscapes and people. We organized two workshops to investigate how traditional and western knowledge can be used to enhance wildland fire and fuels management and research. We engaged tribal members, managers, and researchers to formulate solutions regarding the main topics identified as important to tribal and other land managers: cross-jurisdictional work, fuels reduction strategies, and wildland fire management and research involving traditional knowledge. A key conclusion from the workshops is that successful management of wildland fire and fuels requires collaborative partnerships that share traditional and western fire knowledge through culturally sensitive consultation, coordination, and communication for building trust. We present a framework for developing these partnerships based on workshop discussions.

Lake, Frank K.; Wright, Vita; Morgan, Penelope; McFadzen, Mary; McWethy, Dave; Stevens-Rumann, Camille. 2017. Returning fire to the land: celebrating traditional knowledge and fire. Journal of Forestry. 115(5): 343-353. https://doi.org/10.5849/jof.2016-043R2.

Posted by:
Southern Rockies Fire Science Network
Published on:
March 1, 2021

Categories: Research Brief/Synthesis, Technical ReportTags: Fire History, fire management history, indigenous fire management, indigenous knowledge, Indigenous Perspectives In Fire Management, prescribed burning regulations, Prescribed Fire, prescribed fire management, prescribed fire regime, wildfire history, Wildland, Wildland Fire, wildland fire operations, wildland fire science, wildland fire smoke

Footer

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Sign up for our newsletter

Got a Question?
Email us.

This regional Fire Exchange is one of 15 regional fire science exchanges sponsored by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP).
View resources from multiple exchanges.