The Gift of Fire: An interview with wildfire guru Jim Durglo
Editor’s note: Jim Durglo is the Inter- tribal Timber Council’s Wildland Fire Technical Specialist. Although not employed by western Montana’s Con- federated Salish and Kootenai Tribes [CKST] he provides National Environ- mental Policy Act [EPA] compliance facilitation services for the tribe and other local and regional wildland fire programs. His is also a member of the advisory council to the widely praised Montana Forest Action Plan. Evergreen: Tribes see Indigenous fire – essentially prescribed burning – as a tool for restoring fire-starved forests and grasslands and a way to visually showcase ancient cultures for whom fire was the only land man- agement tool. Can you cite some examples for us? Durglo: Many tribal teachings acknowledge the significance of the gift of fire from our creator and through millennia of use and inter- action had developed knowledges that were detailed, and place based. Tribes, through self-determination, are again using this tool to manipu- late their cultural environment. It’s more than a tool for fuel reduction, in many cases through song and ceremony reestablishes or is restor- ing a cultural relationship with our ancient landscapes. Evergreen: How’s that? Durglo: A couple of examples come to mind. The Nature Conservancy is actively managing some forest lands near the southeast corner of the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana. They are also performing fuels reduction work including thin- ning, piling, pile burning and under burning treatments. The CSKT Di- vision of Fire is participating, along with tribal elders, telling the story of CSKT occupation and historical use of those lands. A very similar story is occurring in many places across the US, namely with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota on lands managed by the Forest Service, Chippewa National Forest, and the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache tribes on lands managed by the Coronado National Forest. Arizona to name a few. Because of the great depopu- lation of indigenous peoples over the past 600 years, oppression, and criminalization of cultural burning
Salvage burn overlooking Flathead Lake, Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, Flathead Reservation, Montana.
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