California once prohibited Native American fire practices. Now, it's asking tribes to use them to help prevent wildfires [cnn.com]

By Alaa Elassar, Photo: Don Hankins, CNN US, April 3, 2022

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 officeannounced 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.

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