As forests burn, tribes battle to restore fire practices

The Klamath River runs through Oregon and California. Many Indigenous people depend on salmon as a food source. The aftermath of fires and rains creates sediment in the rivers. It is this sediment that prevents the salmon eggs from getting the oxygen they need, affecting the salmon run in years to come.

Vikki Preston, Karuk cultural resources technician, helps the residents of Happy Camp who were evacuated because of the Slater Fire. Preston says that many people had left with just the clothes on their backs. She helped with getting food and clothing donations to people in need.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp, California, home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. The Hillmans lived in the house for 23 years.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. Erin looks for anything recognizable on her property.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. Erin looks for anything recognizable on her property.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp, California, home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. The Hillmans lived in the house for 23 years.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. The Hillmans say their house was next to a national forest that was not being managed correctly.

Erin and Leeon Hillman say their house, which was lost in the Slater Fire, was next to a national forest that was not being managed properly.

The Slater Fire stormed through Happy Camp, California, on Sept. 9, 2020, burning about 160 homes. The winds were high that day and the power was not shut off.

Erin Hillman and her husband, Leeon, lost their Happy Camp home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. The Hillmans attempted to save their property by running sprinklers, but they were no match for the firestorm that swept through, destroying about 160 homes.

The Slater Fire stormed through Happy Camp, California, on Sept. 9, 2020, killing two people and burning about 160 homes.

Members of the Happy Camp community listen to a fire update at Happy Camp High School. The Slater Fire stormed through their town, destroying about 160 homes.

Erin Hillman attends a community meeting about the Slater Fire at Happy Camp High School in California.

Leeon Hillman (center) and his wife, Erin, lost their Happy Camp home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020. Leeon attends a community meeting on Sept. 23 at Happy Camp High School.

Members of the Happy Camp community listen to a fire update at Happy Camp High School. The Slater Fire stormed through their town, destroying about 160 homes.

Don Nowak (center) and his wife, Darlene, attend a community meeting at Happy Camp High School after losing their home to the Slater Fire.

Road signs on Highway 96 warn travelers of fire traffic in Happy Camp, California.

Happy Camp's town sign stands untouched by the Slater Fire that burned about 160 homes on Sept. 9, 2020.

Leeon Hillman, and his wife, Erin, owners of Kingfisher Market in Happy Camp, lost their home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020.

Signs hang in the town of Happy Camp thanking firefighters after the Slater Fire burned about 160 homes on Sept. 9, 2020.

The Slater Fire burned through the town of Happy Camp, destroying about 160 homes on Sept. 9, 2020.

Officials give a Slater Fire update at Happy Camp High School in California.

Leeon Hillman, owner with wife Erin of the Kingfisher Market in Happy Camp, says the Karuks have been trying to get their foot in the U.S. Forest Service management door, only to encounter an adversarial attitude.

Leeon Hillman and his wife, Erin, owners of Kingfisher Market in Happy Camp, lost their home to the Slater Fire on Sept. 9, 2020.

Karuk tribal Chairman Buster Attebery speaks about the Slater Fire and controlled burning at a community meeting at Happy Camp High School.

The U.S. Forest Service burned this slope outside of Orleans, California, to demonstrate how tribal burning can enhance the biodiversity of the region. The slope, which once was an impassible thicket, now bursts with new life.

Vikki Preston, Karuk cultural resources technician, helps residents of Happy Camp who were evacuated by the Slater Fire. Preston says that many people had left with just the clothes on their backs. She helped with getting donations (food and clothes) to people in need.

Kathy McCovey lost her Happy Camp, California, home to the Slater Fire. McCovey, a Karuk tribal member and retired U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and anthropologist, talks about controlled burning to prevent future destruction.

An inspector stands on Orleans Bridge over the Klamath River.

Chook Chook Hillman, Karuk cultural resources technician, picks up acorns from his property in Orleans. Hillman talks about not owning the Earth but owning responsibilities to the Earth.

Chook Chook Hillman, Karuk cultural resources technician, talks about paying attention to nature and not policy to help manage the forest. "We just don't do things for ourselves, we do it for the world."

Chook Chook Hillman, Karuk cultural resources technician, picks up acorns from his property in Orleans, California. Hillman talks about not owning the Earth but owning responsibilities to the Earth.

Craig Tucker, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources policies consultant, talks about bad forest management and climate change.

Craig Tucker, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources policies consultant, talks about bad forest management and climate change.

What the Karuk tribe describes as a "Douglas fir plantation" and not a natural landscape grows along the river in Orleans, California.

Bill Tripp, director of natural resources and environmental policy for the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, speaks about the frustration of forest management.

Bill Tripp, a Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources director, speaks about the frustration of forest management and its effects on Indigenous people. He says, "It does take, unfortunately, shock and awe moments like what we have right now where you can't see the sun in San Francisco for days on end. Then people will listen."

Light shines on A'uuyich, Sugarloaf Mountain. The Karuk view this area as the center of their world.

The Alaska Incident Management team and the U.S. Forest Service are part of a team that is working on the August Complex fires out of the Holiday Inn Redding on Sept. 25, 2020.

Sam Harrel, Alaska Incident Management team PIO, works to get information out on the August Complex North fire, out of the Holiday Inn Redding on Sept. 25, 2020.

Sam Harrel, Alaska Incident Management team PIO, and Amelia Fleitz, PIO in training with the U.S. Forest Service, take a moment to watch memorial services for Charles Morton, a Big Bear Hotshot, who died while covering the El Dorado Fire. Harrel and Fleitz are working with communication on the August Complex fires, out of the Holiday Inn Redding on Sept. 25, 2020.

Sunshine Meitzner, Alaska Incident Management team PIO, takes a moment to watch memorial services for Charles Morton, a Big Bear Hotshot, who died while covering the El Dorado Fire. Meitzner is part of a team that is working on the August Complex fires out of the Holiday Inn Redding on Sept. 25, 2020.

Sam Harrel, Alaska Incident Management team PIO, and Amelia Fleitz, PIO in training with the U.S. Forest Service, work to get the information out on the August Complex North fire, out of the Holiday Inn Redding on Sept. 25, 2020.