Tuesday, August 4, 2020: 3:30 PM
Background/Question/Methods: Preceding fire suppression and exclusion policies, American Indians used prescribed cultural fires to enhance a myriad of resources, as well as reduce wildfire risks. In Northwest California, American Indians are collaborating with the US Forest Service to identify areas to reduce fuels and improve the availability of critical socio-economic resources such as traditional foods and basketry materials for livelihood and cultural practices. Through collaboration with Karuk and Yurok Indian Tribal members in the western Klamath mountains of northern California, we evaluated the effect of prescribed broadcast fires and three fire proxy treatments—cutting, pile burning, and propane torch burning—on the production of culturally and economically important basketry materials derived from California hazelnut shrubs (Corylus cornuta var. californica). Historically, prescribed cultural fires were the preferred method of producing basketry stems, however fire suppression induced changes to forests have made these burns more resource-intensive, and new forestry methods allow for additional ways to reduce fuels and enhance resources in seasons when prescribed burning is not possible.
Results/Conclusions: Through a mixed block design measuring pre and post treatment over 24 months on 91 shrubs in a 5 ha forest we found that all treatments significantly increased the density of viable basketry stems compared to control shrubs (p<0.001), and that the prescribed broadcast fire treatment (p<0.01) and propane torch treatment (p<0.1) increased basketry stems compared to the cutting treatment. Fuel reduction treatments can be modified to enhance culturally-important Indigenous resources while meeting fuel reduction objectives. Where California hazelnut is present and fuel reduction treatments are planned, a combination of these treatments could be applied, depending on the season and a land manager’s objectives and resources