Greetings from What is California? HQ, where early May is hardly too soon to wonder about the forecast for fire season in the state. What used to be limited to late summer and early fall has become something of a year-round phenomenon, damaging ever more communities and choking Western skies with smoke and haze.
Not all fire is bad, though. In fact, with steadfast planning, a diet of “prescribed fire” with California’s natural wildfire cycle can help keep forests healthy, reduce invasive plant species, and harden homes and neighborhoods that are otherwise surrounded by dry fuel in dangerous conditions.
In her roles as a fire adviser with University of California Cooperative Extension and the director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council, Lenya Quinn-Davidson helps agencies and communities strategically deploy fire around the state. These “controlled burns”—which California officials have heavily regulated and/or restricted for decades despite their safe practice for centuries by Indigenous populations—are shown to strengthen the resilience of California’s wildlands that otherwise become tinderboxes for lightning strikes, electrical malfunctions, arson, accidents, and other sparks.
Quinn-Davidson joined the podcast this week to talk about the art, science and necessity of prescribed fire, as well as her very Northern California origins (Hayfork, represent!) and why we could all stand to be a little more comfortable around fire in a state that has always burned—and always will.
Thanks for listening and sharing! Keep your eye on the bear! 🐻 ❤️
Episode Notes
Lenya Quinn-Davidson is a fire adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension and director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council.
I think it’s really important for Californians in general to build comfort with fire–to build a relationship with it, to get out and see what it actually looks like on the ground. That’s a big part of the work that I do.
Notes and references from this episode:
Fire in California - University of California Cooperative Extension
Northern California Prescribed Fire Council - home page
Meet the People Burning California to Save It - NY Times / YouTube
Backpacking To Morris Meadow - Inga’s Adventures
Episode 11: Jaime Lowe - What is California?
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Produced, hosted and edited by Stu VanAirsdale
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