Returning Fire to the Land

"Our forest management plan is a very unique blend of Western science and traditional ecological knowledge...Our plan is really interactive and ecosystem friendly as we see what the land needs. It's not a production forest. It's based on ecosystem balance." - Tony Incashola, Jr., Director of Forestry, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes.
For thousands of years, the vast majority of fires on the land were intentionally set by Indigenous Peoples of this region for a variety of reasons. Today, on the Flathead Reservation in Western Montana, the Division of Fire of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes' Forestry Department is reclaiming a traditional relationship with fire on the landscape. Hear from the team about this work and how these fire dependent landscapes benefit from this holistic approach.
Learn more through CSKT's Fire on the Land project: fwrconline.cskt...
Thank you to the CSKT Division of Fire who spoke for this piece:Tony Incashola, Jr. [Director of Forestry], Ron Swaney [Fire Management Officer], Darrell Clairmont, [Prescribed Fire & Fuels Manager].
Thank you to the The Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee.
Direction & Camera by Lara Tomov for Stories for Action
Additional Camera by Trevor Spotted Eagle
Images of fires and fire crews by Michael Umphry
"Intertribal Song" Pistol Creek Drum Group, Recorded at the Salish Kootenai College Media Center
Hear these full interviews in the Stories for Action podcast series, available on Apple/Spotify/iHeart or the following link: www.storiesfor...
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