Wildfires more reason to consider prescribed burning, says Chico State professor - Chico Enterprise-Record

CHICO — Not new is the fact that American Indians purposefully set wildfires to manage vegetation, but it’s one that wildfire advocate Don Hankins believes should be studied more and adopted.

Hankins, who teaches geography and planning at Chico State University, spoke Thursday at the Chico Creek Nature Center about fire management.

Uncontrolled wildfires are a fact of life in California, he maintained, but believes more prescribed burns are necessary.

Prescribed burns, planned out by fire managers not firefighters, would help ease the thick under growth that characterize California forests and accelerate wildfires. They would also help with plant management, along with wildlife and fish survival, said Hankins, who is a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, holds a doctorate, and is president of the California Indian Water Commission.

Showing a series of slides after various wildfires in Butte County and the nearby foothills, Hankins pointed out post-fire positives, like the discouragement of nonnative plants along with the encouragement of fire-dependent trees and vegetation that are native.

Hankins offers examples of Australian fire management projects in which he participated, along with localized fire management, including on the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve. He also pointed out that even unplanned wildfires can be managed somewhat to achieve desired goals.

He cited Canadian fire expert Henry T. Lewis, who noted that native people could offer more than 70 reasons to burn the landscape.

“A well-maintained landscape can provide everything,” Hankins told a standing-room only group at the center.

That concept is becoming more recognized in the U.S., and government agencies are giving it credence, he noted.

“If people stop burning, wildfires become rampant,” he said, opening the door for massive wildland fires that are becoming the California norm.

While John Muir was recognized for his naturalist stances, Hankins said Muir resisted acknowledging the benefits of tribal burning. Muir described the California landscape as beautiful, Hankins said, but it was created through fire.

He also noted that while modern clear cutting in forest opens up the area to more growth, it often promotes thick brushy vegetation that fuel fires if they aren’t tended after cutting. He said he has seen post-cut areas littered with branches and cut vegetation that provide more fuel for fires, including dead trees left standing for wildlife habitat.

Hankins showed a number of slides of prescribed burns on the Chico State University Research Foundation-owned reserve off Highway 32, pointing out there were no fire trucks, but was burned safely, he said.

Hankins said there is opportunity to restore prescribed burning in California, and that it “can help the landscape be resilient.”

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