Welcoming Fire The Prescribed Way

Welcome to the news of our little slice of the world. We currently are 9 people living at Emerald Earth. We are an Inter generational group working together to prepare this part of the planet for possible wild fires. As this is being written, the grass is still green AND it won’t be long that it is golden. We are in a deep drought in this part of the world. To date, Boonville and the greater Mendocino County area is only at 40% its recorded average.

This dependency on consistency of weather patterns has lulled society into irresponsible habits and false comfort. It is the time to develop adaptability and resiliency to the foreseen unforeseen changes in local and global climate patterns. One way that we are stewarding this land which we occupy is to integrate indigenous land tending practices which include prescribed burns. As the term “prescribed burns” implies, it is a preventative medicine for the landscape. Using controlled and managed fires on units of land during the wetter times of the year prepares the forest and grasslands to be resilient in the face of wild fires and, regeneratively nourishes the soil.

During late winter we held two work parties in preparation for a prescribed burn. Volunteers from the Anderson Valley, the greater Mendocino area and Puerto Rico helped to cut fire ladder material from non native pines, tan oaks and redwoods. Large piles of slash from recent logging and forest debris were burned in small burn piles (called jackpots) and swaths of highly flammable non native grasses were lit with a fire torch in order to quell seed spreading. Emerald Earth Sanctuary’s boundaries only stretch 189 acres but the trees and 4 legged, winged ones and slithering ones, swimming ones and digging ones know no such delineation.

This is just the beginning. We have ignited interest in the larger community with the burning imperative to adopt practices that have almost been forgotten. We , the occupiers of stolen native lands, with purest of hearts, are tending the embers of ancient knowledge. To know this land is to be friends with fire.

Moving forward we plan on continuing to hold work parties in preparation for a larger controlled burn of an 80 acre unit. Spring and summer will bring more cutting and clearing WITHOUT burns. This is all very weather dependent. The conditions have to be just right for a burn of this magnitude to take place. We are working with the Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) of Mendocino County and TREX (Prescribed Fire Training Exchange) to develop the plans. For now, we are investing time in developing relationships with our community to create a vibrant and glowing exchange of human power that supports each other physically, spiritually and mentally toward resilient forestry. Many hands make light work and we welcome volunteers and offer our loving hands to others.

Thank you for taking the time to peek into the small haven we call home.