The Future with Fire

Wildfire is integral to both nature and humanity. Yet, through colonial policies of genocide and the removal of Indigenous people from their land, the United States brought an end to traditional fire use and made suppression of most wildfires the dominating philosophy. By the mid-20th century, wildfire suppression reached an industrial scale, with the use of military tactics for suppression and a friendly mascot to deliver anti-fire rhetoric. We’ve become a nation that fears fire and fights it at all costs.

In this final episode of One Foot in the Black, we look back through the series and summarize what we’ve learned about fire in the era of climate change from voices on the front lines—from the cultural fire practitioners, wildland firefighters, fire scientists, and policy makers. We also look at how fire is portrayed in the media and how we deal collectively with climate grief in the aftermath of fires.

Our goal was to explore the facts, future, and solutions of wildfire in the era of climate change, and we hope you are coming away with a greater understanding of the importance of fire and how we can live in this fire future together.

Listen & Subscribe:

Links & Resources

Indigenous Communities of the Klamath-Siskiyou includes links to regional organizations, resources, and Indigenous-led projects

Smokey Bear Prevention Public Service Announcements, circa 1971-1985, courtesy of the National Archives

Was Smokey Bear wrong? How a beloved character may have helped fuel catastrophic fires. By Kyle Swenson for the Washington Post, August 15, 2018.

How The Smokey Bear Effect Led To Raging Wildfires. By Christoper Joyce for NPR’s Morning Edition, August 23, 2012.

Climate Grief Sources

Jennifer Atkinson, Facing It

Thomas Doherty

Dhar Jamail on Post-doom with Michael Dowd

Glenn Albrecht: TedX + The Age of Solastalgia

Solastalgia: living with the environmental damage caused by natural disasters

Joanna Macy

Show Credits

Featured guests:

Tim Ingalsbee, Executive Director, Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE)

Belinda Brown, Tribal Partnership Director, Lomakatsi Restoration Project

Janet Lancaster, Fire Smart Merlin

Charles Brooks, Executive Director, Rebuild Paradise Foundation

Rick O’Rourke, Fire Coordinator, Cultural Fire Management Council

Susan Jane Brown, Senior Attorney, Wildlands and Wildlife Director, Western Environmental Law Center (WELC)

Hosts: Joseph Vaile and Alexi Lovechio

Producer: Jessica Klinke

Episode Transcript (Coming Soon)

Episode Guests:

Presenters & Collaborators
Charles Brooks
Charles Brooks

Charles Brooks is the Executive Director of Rebuild Paradise. Charles is a graduate of CSU Chico with a degree in Business Administration. Charles and his wife Jennifer have been Paradise Residents since 2004 and Butte County since 1998. Charles has always had a heart for service. He is an Eagle Scout and been involved in several volunteer civic organizations including; Boy Scouts of America Students in Free Enterprise, Butte County Search & Rescue, Paradise Citizens’ Alliance and coached his boys’ soccer teams for many years. Founding Rebuild Paradise was an easy choice and necessary step to assist the Butte County community recover in a meaningful way over the many years to come.

Susan Jane Brown
Susan Jane Brown

Susan Jane Brown is a Senior Attorney and the Wildlands Director for Western Environmental law Center (WELC). She joined WELC after serving as Natural Resources Counsel for Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in Washington, D.C. She also worked as a staff attorney with the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, Lewis and Clark Law School’s environmental law clinic. A nationally recognized expert on forest law, she has been appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to co-chair the Federal Advisory Committee on the National Forest Management Act. Susan Jane is a recipient of the Wilburforce Foundation’s Conservation Leadership Award, honoring her years of hard work protecting wildlife and wildlands in the western United States and recognizing her outstanding leadership in the conservation movement. She also served as executive director of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force from 2000-2003. Susan Jane graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned her law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School.

Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee
Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee

Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D. is co-founder and executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology (FUSEE) and is a faculty research associate at the University of Oregon. Timothy began his career as a wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. In 1993 Timothy received the Oregon Conservationist of the Year Award by the Oregon Natural Resources Council. Timothy co-founded and directed the Cascadia Fire Ecology Education Project from 1994-2004, and created and directed the Western Fire Ecology Center from 1997-2004. Timothy is a senior wildland fire ecologist certified by the Association for Fire Ecology.

Janet Lancaster
Janet Lancaster

Janet Lancaster is a community organizer and wildfire preparedness advocate. Months after retiring to Merlin in 2018, the US Forest Service published a report naming Merlin the community most at-risk of wildfire in Oregon. This began her quest to learn - and share with her community - what homeowners can do to prevent, prepare for and survive wildfire. She co-founded Firesmart Merlin in January 2019, which offers free community meetings on wildfire readiness and related topics.

Belinda Brown
Belinda Brown

Belinda Brown is an enrolled Kosealekte Band member of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (Pit River Tribe). She is honored to bring the collective voice of tribal communities to the leadership of Lomakatsi and the Rogue Basin as the Tribal Partnerships Director of Lomakatsi. She works to include and maintain a tribal presence as the first, best stewards of the land, incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into current best practices in ecosystem and ecocultural restoration. Her work has spanned 30 years of intergovernmental affairs coordination in Indian Country as a tribal leader.

Richard F. O'Rourke
Richard F. O'Rourke

Richard F. O’Rourke III is an indigenous fire practitioner and the Fire Coordinator for the Cultural Fire Management Council (CFMC). He is a Yurok Tribal member, and has lived on the banks of the Klamath River for the majority of his life. He has been using fire as a defensive tool against wildfire for over 30 years. As Fire Coordinator for the CFMC he has started using fire on a landscape level for the revival of cultural resources, fuel reduction, and returning the landscape into a healthy, biologically diverse ecosystem.

PodcastGuest UserTEK, Wildland Urban Interface, Firewise, Defensible Space, Home Hardening, Rebuild, After the Fire, Climate, Climate Change, Policy, Episode 6, Climate Grief, Smokey Bear