Prescribed burns, like what Native Tribes conducted until colonial powers stopped them, are key to making communities more resilient to wildfires, which are increasing in severity with climate change. This week on Climate Break, we are joined by Bill Tripp, the Director of Natural Resources and Environment Policy for the Karuk Tribes Department of Natural Resources to talk about prescribed burns. For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/prescribed-burns-with-bill-tripp/
For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/prescribed-burns-with-bill-tripp/
Mr. Tripp: Great grandmother taught me how to use fire when I was four years old. By the time I was eight years old, I was burning by myself.
Ethan: That's Bill Tripp, Director of Natural Resources and Environment Policy for the Karuk Tribes Department of Natural Resources.
Mr. Tripp: We've been burning here for thousands of years. Our ceremonial practices are deeply rooted in the use of fire.
Ethan: Prescribed burns, like what Native Tribes conducted until colonial powers stopped them, are key to making communities more resilient to wildfires, which are increasing in severity with climate change. These burns remove excess vegetation and nurture native plants as an important climate solution.
Mr. Tripp: Let's all get out there together and do some prescribed burning. Let's get over our systems of desire for control and for disenfranchising indigenous people. Let's create conditions where our people in our communities can get back and start to burn as a maintenance effort. Systemic racism is real. So changing the thought process there is going to be critical. If you can't change the basic premise for how you believe about something, then you're really not going to make meaningful change.
Ethan: I'm Ethan Elkind, and this is Climate Break. For more information on prescribed and cultural burns, and for more climate change solutions, visit climatebreak.org, or wherever you get your podcasts.