Fire Returns to the Klamath
After an eerily calm early summer, fire has returned to the Klamath mountains. The McKinney Fire, as of writing this, is one of the largest fires in the United States at 55,493+ acres - with 0% containment. The fire has already torn through the community of Klamath, burning down homes and community buildings, and is now threatening the town of Yreka.
This sort of traumatic fire incident has become all too familiar to Klamath River residents over the last few years. Many friends and families losing their homes and fundamentally changing our small communities.
Take care of yourselves, and make smart choices. You can get updates about the fires in the basin on the Klamath National Forests Twitter feed, linked below.
News
Klamath NF (@Klamath_NF) / Twitter
Check the KNF's Twitter, and the above contacts for fire updates.
2 found dead as McKinney fire grows in Northern California - Los Angeles Times
The McKinney fire has ripped through 52,498 acres in Klamath National Forest. A red flag warning is in effect, and storms are expected.
McKinney Fire: Erratic winds, dry lightning challenge crews
The McKinney Fire grew by about 40% to 51,468 acres.
McKinney fire grows into California’s largest this year as thunderstorms fuel concerns | Wildfires | The Guardian
Huge blaze burns out of control as crews also battling fires in Montana, Idaho, Hawaii and Texas
California's McKinney Fire burns out of control in Klamath National Forest : NPR
Crews battling the largest wildfire so far this year in California braced for thunderstorms and hot, windy conditions that created the potential for additional fire growth Sunday.
Op-Ed: Why forest managers need to team up with Indigenous fire practitioners - Los Angeles Times
Western woodlands now vulnerable to megafires evolved to endure far more frequent and less catastrophic burns at the hands of local tribes.
Cultural burning in California: Key to prevent deadly wildfires.
By replacing proactive Indigenous fire experts with managers who embraced clearcutting, monoculture plantations, and Smokey the Bear fire suppression policies, government agencies wiped out millennia of historical burning regimes that kept forestlands healthy, diverse, and fire-resilient. This history, along with heightened temperatures and extended drought due to climate change, set the stage for today’s catastrophic wildfires plaguing the Western United States.
Water battle in drought-plagued wildlife refuges ends in draw | Reuters
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a 15-year plan for several drought-stricken wildlife refuges along the Oregon and California border against challenges by agribusiness and conservation groups alike.
Karuk Tribe to host first Indigenous women-in-fire training program – Times-Standard
This fall, the Karuk Tribe and other agencies will host the first Indigenous women-in-fire training exchange meant to train firefighters in burning practices.
The exchange will focus on Indigenous women and prescribed burning — which is intentional fires set in the wild for a variety of cultural and ecological reasons — with cultural objectives in an attempt to make fire management systems more equitable.
Meet the Tribal Kids Who Are Training to Be the First to Shoot the Length of the Klamath in Kayaks, Once the Dams Are Gone | Lost Coast Outpost | Humboldt County News
At 1:00 pm on Tuesday, July 26 at the Requa Boat Ramp, the Yurok Tribe will greet fourteen local indigenous youth who recently completed an intensive whitewater kayak training to prepare to lead the first decent of the Klamath River following the much-anticipated removal of four dams.
"Rally for the C'waam and Koptu" brings awareness to plight of endangered Klamath fish | KTVL
CHILOQUIN — Citizens of the Klamath Tribes will host a two-day community event, “Rally for the C’waam and Koptu”, highlighting the importance of these endemic fish, also known as the Lost River suckerfish and shortnose suckerfish.
This free event will take place this Friday July 22 and Saturday 23 in Chiloquin with a caravan rally to nearby Klamath Falls on Saturday.
In Case You Missed It...
Karuk Tribe Official Brings Traditional Knowledge to Federal Wildfire Commission | News Blog
The director of the Karuk Tribe’s Natural Resources Department was named July 7 to the Biden-Harris administration's Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, which is tasked with recommending policies and strategies to better prevent, mitigate, manage and recover from wildfire to Congress.
Migratory river fish populations plunge 76% in past 50 years | Fish | The Guardian
Decline in species such as salmon harms entire ecosystems and livelihoods, say researchers
July 2022 Science Corner - The importance of Indigenous cultural burning in forested regions of the Pacific West, USA — Blue Forest Conservation
As the threats and solutions to megafires in western North America become more widely discussed, the historical role of low-intensity fire is recognized as an essential component of western forested ecosystems that is largely missing today. Not only is it now more commonly understood that fire has a vital and beneficial role in the forest, but also that it has been used since time immemorial by indigenous peoples in these regions. However, discussions about the need for safe, intentional fire to return to these landscapes often inaccurately conflate prescribed fire use with cultural burning, mentioning them as interchangeable fire reduction tools and flattening the comprehensive benefits and purposes of cultural burning for diversified goals.
