Combating Climate Change

California On Fire

Fire was once a part of the natural rhythm of these lands, as our ecosystems co-evolved with the indigenous people of North America who used fire to cultivate ancestral plants for food and alter forests for ideal hunting. These cultural fires played a critical role in cycles of regeneration and renewal across the landscape. However, generations of fire suppression since European contact and climate change have unleashed infernos of greater intensity and regularity than ever before.

As brave women and men continue to fight blazes across the state, it is time for all of us to learn the lessons of this cataclysm. Fire has a great deal to teach us—about the strength of the human spirit, the resilience of our communities, and our relationship to the natural world. This last point in particular should inspire introspection, reevaluation, and importantly, action, going forward. The natural world is not a beast that we can tame and bring to heel, but rather a partner that we must respect and work in concert with. Valuing traditional ecological knowledge of working with the land to improve ecosystem health and environmental resilience is a clear path to safety for our communities.

Mendocino Land Trust is committed to working with landowners to create conservation plans that align with best principles of managing land for ecological flourishing and community safety. We have invested in strategically placed, well-maintained, shaded fuel breaks on our Noyo River Redwoods property. We recognize that none of this is enough.  More, and immediate action,  must be done across the county, state, nation, and planet, to address these issues in a manner that is strategic and well-resourced. Time is not on our side.

These dire events will not break our human or ecological community—the natural world we are part of is nothing if not resilient. However, we know that now is the time to reevaluate our relationship with the natural world to try to prevent these annual cycles of destruction. We would like to express our deep gratitude and admiration for those heroes who put their lives on the line to respond to these wildfires and their victims. Thank you. We are inspired to continue the work to help manage fire resilient forests.