[PCA] Tribes object to fighting fire in sacred places

Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Thu Sep 25 10:30:11 CDT 2008


Interesting article about land management - public land management 
agencies and tribal management.  This is from FAO's NWFP Digest 
(http://www.fao.org/forestry/51156/en/).

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural 
resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>


33.       United States: Tribes object to fighting fire in sacred places 
Source: kgw.com, Portland, USA, 8/12/2008 (Jeff Barnard, Associated Press)
 
Indian tribes from the Klamath River canyon are worried that the U.S. 
Forest Service is violating some of their sacred lands by fighting a 
remote wilderness wildfire rather than leaving it to burn naturally. 
            The Siskiyou and Blue 2 fires have been burning for weeks at 
low intensity in the Siskiyou Wilderness on the Six Rivers National Forest 
in the Siskiyou Mountains between the Klamath River and the Oregon border. 

            With so many fires in the area, it took weeks for the Forest 
Service to send its first crew, and they adopted a strategy of burning out 
a perimeter around the fires to prevent them from spreading as the weather 
gets hotter, drier and windier. 
            Under protocols established years ago, the tribes have been 
meeting with the Forest Service over the management of the fires, and Six 
Rivers National Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley said they are being 
sensitive to their concerns. 
            But though the fires are far from any homes, leaving them to 
burn without a strong perimeter around them is not an option, given the 
nearby timber resources and expectations that the fire conditions will get 
worse, he said. He added that because the fires are in a wilderness area, 
fire lines are built by hand, not with bulldozers. 
            The area is home to many prayer seats or vision quest sites 
shared by the three tribes, where tribal members have fasted, prayed and 
sought spiritual guidance for thousands of years. The area is also used to 
gather grasses for baskets and Port Orford cedar for ceremonial buildings, 
such as sweat lodges. 
            In the 1980s, the tribes fought a Forest Service proposal to 
build a logging road through the area up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where 
the tribes lost, Peters said. Later, the logging project was killed by 
designation of the area as a wilderness. 
            For untold centuries, native people have set fires to manage 
natural resources, such as the oaks that produce acorns, a major 
traditional food source, and grasses used to weave baskets, Peters said. 
            But the tribes are worried that the fires set by the Forest 
Service burn at higher intensity, destroying fisheries habitat and other 
resources, and using instruments such as drip torches violates the 
spirituality of the place, said Bill Tripp, eco-cultural restoration 
specialist for the Karuk tribe. 
For full story, please see: 
www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D92H24HG1.html
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