A recent classroom-based workshop on Prescribed Burning was my first immersion into learning about fire behavior and concepts rooted in science, law, and practice on the ground. Beneficial Disturbance. Heat Management. F.R.I. for Fire Return Interval. Learning about burning and its connections to culture and biodiversity was a first step toward overcoming my own negative perceptions about fire.
The course was led by experts Chris Paulus and Cordi Craig of Placer County, and coordinated by Kestrel Grevatt and the American River Conservancy, and emphasized the benefits of careful, legal burning. We were introduced to fuels and forest types, fire and wind behavior, state statutes and personal liabilities, Indigenous cultural burning and native plant adaptation. The experience was surprisingly rich.
I’m going to borrow that, I thought. It’s what I hope our visual and musical journey with FIRE/LAND can call to mind, using abstract images of forest destruction and recovery, with cross-genre ambient, classical, and progressive musical compositions and performance.
The key takeaway about controlled burning was its integrated use by California’s Indigenous Peoples. California’s Native American communities lived in fellowship with the land. Through burning, they made the forest spacious and plentiful. The lands were not choked by undergrowth, brush and small trees, that competed for light and nourishment, as we see today. The soils were not depleted or eroded. I’d been aware of this practice of replenishing nature with smoke and ash, but learned a new word, “karrikin” and some science around it.
From Wikipedia, “karrikins are released into the air upon the burning of plants… Rains occurring after the fire wash the karrikins into the soil where dormant seeds reside. The karrikins and water can provide a 'wake-up call’ for such seeds, triggering germination of the soil seed bank. The plants that depend on karrikins to grow are known as ‘fire-followers’.”
Seeds lie dormant in the soil for decades. But, the soil is quite fragile. Heat from an intentional burn needs to be minimized so as not to destroy soil’s chemistry, root systems, and microscopic creatures. Letting a forest “go wild” doesn’t work. The notion of California as a wilderness is a misconception, a remnant of an imported European mindset. It was Native Peoples who shaped the land, and who were then tragically subjected to genocide, pandemic, and marginalization beginning with the settling of European Americans.
People are needed again to work with smoke and ash in their beneficial forms. Catastrophic megafires are upon us and are uncontrollable. The conditions are in place for such wildfires to continue. The State of California has the strategic goal to intentionally treat and burn 1 million acres per year by applying fire thoughtfully. By listening to those with traditional and hard-earned knowledge and skills to share and applying that through actions in policy and practice, we may get closer to achieving this goal for resilient communities.
-- Ameera Godwin, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Myrtle Tree Arts
FIRE/LAND
An Experience Inspiring Community Resilience
Saturday, June 10th, 2023, 4PM - 10PM
Wakamatsu Farm, 941 Cold Springs Road, Placerville, CA 95667
A project of Myrtle Tree Arts and co-hosted by the American River Conservancy, this unique "art rock opera for the forest" and public forum will happen at the landmark Wakamatsu Farm. During the speaker forum in the late afternoon, local experts and representatives will share community issues related to wildfire, land stewardship, emergency preparedness, cultural preservation, and forest ecology. The evening features Main Street Collective's Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary concert followed by FIRE/LAND: Knowing the Territory, a musical and dramatic performance starring musicians, singers, Native American storyteller, and video projections in a creative exploration of wildfire, ecological change, and resilience in El Dorado County. This intellectual and creative experience strives to spark inspiration and your call to action in support of community resilience!
See more details on the Myrtle Tree Arts Fire/Land page.
FIRE/LAND: The Exhibition
SWITCHBOARD GALLERY
Arts and Culture El Dorado
525 Main St. Placerville, CA
June 8 - August 6, 2023
Experience this installation of Ameera Godwin's digital prints and video from FIRE/LAND.
Artist Talk, July 13th, 6pm
FIRE/LAND is made possible with support from:
The Latrobe Fund, Sacramento Region Community Foundation,
Pure Life/Sacred Roots, in partnership with the
American River Conservancy and Arts and Culture El Dorado
Ameera - I enjoyed your post and reliving the prescribed fire workshop through your eyes. I learned so much from that single day. I also captured the same quote about forest memory, but missed the word, "karrakin." The workshop was the first time I ever heard that some plants require smoke to germinate. Makes you stop and go "hmmm." Of the five common senses, many consider olfactory to be the least understood. Makes you wonder if plants smell, right?
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