Karuk and Yurok Prescribed Cultural Fire Revitalization In

KARUK AND YUROK PRESCRIBED CULTURAL FIRE REVITALIZATION IN CALIFORNIA’S KLAMATH BASIN: SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS BURNING AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY TONY MARKS-BLOCK JUNE 2020 © 2020 by Tony Alex Marks-Block. All Rights Reserved. Re-distributed by Stanford University under license with the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ This dissertation is online at: http://purl.stanford.edu/cg226hq3123 ii I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Lisa Curran, Primary Adviser I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Paulla Ebron I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Michael Wilcox Approved for the Stanford University Committee on Graduate Studies. Stacey F. Bent, Vice Provost for Graduate Education This signature page was generated electronically upon submission of this dissertation in electronic format. An original signed hard copy of the signature page is on file in University Archives. iii ABSTRACT Fire exclusion and suppression policies, associated with timber extraction and structure protection, have precipitated unprecedented wildfires and associated destruction across California and throughout the American West. Before widespread Federal and State fire exclusion and suppression policies were enacted, American Indians intentionally set prescribed burns to enhance the abundance and quality of species and habitats fundamental to their livelihood and culture. These fires are known as cultural fires, and they limited woody fuels and, in turn, mitigated wildfire spread across the landscape. In northwest California, the Karuk and Yurok Tribes are leading recent efforts to revitalize and expand the use of cultural fires, and thus, present a distinctive and timely opportunity to evaluate the socio-ecological effects of a formerly widespread land management practice that was and still remains integral to Indigenous culture and California ecology. This dissertation uses mixed qualitative and quantitative social and ecological methods and analyses to evaluate the cultural fire resurgence in Karuk and Yurok territory. First, I examine historical and contemporary fire management as a product of colonialism and Indigenous resistance, modes of production (e.g., capitalist timber extraction and Indigenous subsistence economies), and (de)centralized governance systems. Then I present mixed method assessments of the effects of: 1) fire proxy treatments—developed by Karuk and Yurok basketweavers in the absence of cultural burning—on the production of California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica) basketry stems; 2) re-introduced cultural and prescribed burns on hazelnut basketry stem production and basketweaver harvesting and gathering decisions; and, 3) cultural fire frequency and fire exclusion on forest stand structure and overstory species composition. I conclude with an investigation of the factors that may either constrain or facilitate the expansion of cultural and prescribed burning in northern California. Acorns from oaks (Quercus spp. and Notholithocarpus densiflorus) and baskets composed of California hazelnut stems and other animal and plant materials were essential to pre- colonial Karuk and Yurok life, and these resources depended on cultural fire to enhance their qualities and abundance. Hence, Karuk and Yurok Tribal members resisted fire exclusion policies initiated in the early 20th century by the Federal and California State governments to conserve timber stocks and to encourage commercial tree production for timber markets. Although fire exclusion and suppression reduced cultural burning, historical documents demonstrate that resistance prevented the eradication of cultural fires, and also moderated regional timber harvests. When the USDA Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection iv (CAL FIRE) began to allocate resources to prescriptive burning activities for fire and forest restoration in the 21st century, the Karuk and Yurok Tribes capitalized on these developments to re-introduce cultural burning through formal agreements and partnerships. Nonetheless, throughout this region, cultural burning currently remains limited in both area and frequency primarily because of insufficient funds and regulatory constraints. Due to entrenched fire exclusion and suppression policies, Karuk and Yurok basketweavers developed innovative cultural fire substitutes, or proxies, that replicated the disturbance of cultural fire to produce suitable basketry stems (straight and unbranched stems produced from underground buds post-fire). These proxy treatments include: cutting hazelnut stems manually, directly blistering hazelnut stems using a propane torch, and igniting surface fuels piled within hazelnut shrubs to top-kill stems. The experimental application of these treatments across 27 (16 m2) blocks resulted in the following outcomes. Compared to untreated shrubs, pile burning, propane torching, and cultural burning increased basketry stem production by 7- to 10-fold; while cutting increased production by 4-fold. These results demonstrate that these fire-proxy methods are an effective means to increase the production and the quality of basketry materials and, thus, could be integrated into forest restoration and fuel reduction projects when and where conditions for cultural burning is unfeasible. Since 2013, the advent of annual and biannual Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) in Karuk and Yurok territory effectively expanded cultural burning, wherein ~552 ha was burned in ~54 cultural fires from 2015–2019. Within 21 of these cultural burn sites, hazelnut shrub densities, hazelnut stem production, and stem qualities were monitored post-fire, along with a suite of environmental and social variables. Hazelnut shrubs one growing season post-burn produced a 13-fold increase in basketry stems compared with shrubs ³ 3 growing seasons post- burn. Furthermore, areas burned at high frequencies (³ 3 events from 1989 to 2019) had 1.86-fold greater hazelnut shrubs than areas burned < 3 times. Observations of hazelnut basketry stem gathering found that 73% of gathering trips were to sites burned at high frequency. Basketweavers who did not have access to cultural burn sites travelled 3.8-fold greater distances to reach gathering sites burned by wildfires, where gathering rates were 1.6 stems/minute/individual, compared with harvesting trips to culturally burned sites, where gathering rates were 4.9 stems/minute/individual. High frequency cultural burning thus increases gathering efficiency because such practices facilitate higher density resources in closer proximity to residences when compared with unburned areas. A major objective of Karuk and Yurok cultural burns is to reduce Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) encroachment on oak woodlands and prairies to maintain ecological v heterogeneity, and to reduce surface fuel loads in order to protect homes and other built infrastructure in the event of a wildfire. My ecological surveys and remotely sensed analyses of deciduous tree cover found that high frequency burn sites facilitate the maintenance of hardwood tree overstories predominantly composed of deciduous California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), whereas low frequency burn sites (< 3 burns from 1989 to 2019) were dominated by Douglas fir. Surveys also found that cultural burns reduced leaf litter and small diameter dead, woody surface fuels (0 – 25 mm), reducing the potential intensity and rate of spread of an unplanned fire. The increased density of cultural keystone species documented in cultural burn areas provided evidence of positive human ecosystem engineering, and demonstrates that Karuk and Yurok cultural burning maintains desired ecological states that benefit Karuk and Yurok socio- economics and culture. Given the benefits of cultural and prescriptive burning, fire managers affiliated with public land agencies, Tribes, and diverse nongovernmental organizations are working to expand the frequency and area of intentional fires. However, there remains a shortage of wildland fire teams and experts required to conduct environmental reviews to implement and plan these burns. Centralized governance of wildland fire teams diverts their labor from prescriptive burns to the suppression of wildfires, and statewide burn bans prevent cultural burns from occurring during ideal conditions. Furthermore, neoliberal policies are reducing funding for staffing to support the expansion of prescriptive burning. To address this chronic underfunding on public lands and the high costs of burning on privately owned properties, communities and Tribes have developed decentralized prescribed burn associations and independent, qualified prescribed fire teams. Interagency partnerships have also provided supplemental funding and personnel to support burning across multiple jurisdictions. Increased

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