California once prohibited Native American fire practices. Now, it's asking tribes to use them to help prevent wildfires
CNN
California is calling upon Native American tribes to bring back the once-prohibited practice of lighting controlled burns to help prevent devastating wildfires that have wreaked havoc on the state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force has launched a new plan -- "Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire" -- that relies on the help of Native Americans to revive their cultural burning practices, the governor's office announced in a news release on Wednesday.
State, federal, and local agencies will partner with tribes to reintroduce the Native American tradition of prescribed, cultural burns, which are purposefully set, low-intensity fires. The technique is based in part on fire prevention: ridding the land of wildfire fuel like debris, scrub, undergrowth and certain grasses. Such fuel ignites easily, allowing for more intense flames that are harder to fight.