Native people know how to handle Climate Change — BETTER THAN US.
Why don’t we follow their lead.
California’s National Forests are a danger because of mismanagement.
California blames America. America blames California
“Lamenting “the worst epidemic of tree mortality” in the state’s modern history, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday sought federal aid to remove dead trees from California forests and called for more controlled burns to reduce the risk of wildfire.” http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article41962989.html#storylink=cpy
“California’s emergency services director has fired off a sharply worded letter to the U.S. Forest Service that said the agency had stiffed local governments $18 million for fighting wildfires on federal lands last year” http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/fiery-rhetoric-california-feds-18m-fire-debt-48516663
“Trump: Environmental laws making California wildfires ‘so much worse’”
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400484-trump-california-environmental-laws-make-wildfires-so-much-worse
What if they are both right … why not have someone NEW manage the forest, perhaps someone with a resume that is 10,000 years long.
California Natives managed the forest differently than California and America.
The forest had lower density and a different type of tree
“Historically, the unique character of Sierra Nevada forests was defined by its tall trees, relatively mild climate and low forest density” pg 1
“Reducing the current forest canopy cover and related evapotranspiration could also bring forest stands closer to historic conditions where regular fires across the landscape resulted in much lower levels of forest canopy cover than we have today. (Collins 2011)” pg 7
"Forest and water in the Sierra Nevada 2011" http://ucanr.edu/sites/cff/files/146199.pdf
Scientists NOW say — Native people know BETTER how to deal with Climate Change, and modern governments should learn.
“Such fires replicate the wise management of Native-Americans in creating and maintaining the extraordinary health of their natural forests centuries ago.” — Calmatters
https://calmatters.org/articles/commentary/my-turn-whats-needed-to-prevent-megafires/
“In a way, native lands are better prepared for fire in that they do more fire risk mitigation work on their lands,” said Mary Tyrrell ’97 M.F.S, executive director of Yale’s Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry.” — Yale
http://environment.yale.edu/news/article/for-native-american-foresters-managing-the-land-transcends-economics-and-timber/
“recognized traditional knowledge as an important information source for improving the understanding of climate change and other changes over time, and for developing comprehensive natural resource management and climate adaptation strategies” — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/indigenous-peoples
“From Alaska to Australia, scientists are turning to the knowledge of traditional people for a deeper understanding of the natural world. What they are learning is helping them discover more about everything from melting Arctic ice, to protecting fish stocks, to controlling wildfires.” — Yale
https://e360.yale.edu/features/native-knowledge-what-ecologists-are-learning-from-indigenous-people
“In addition, indigenous peoples interpret and react to the impacts of climate change in creative ways,drawing on traditional knowledge and other technologies to find solutions which may help society at large to cope with impending changes.” — United Nations
http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/pdf/Backgrounder_ClimateChange_FINAL.pdf
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Are the World’s Secret Weapon in Curbing Climate Change — World Resource Institute
http://www.wri.org/blog/2016/11/indigenous-peoples-and-local-communities-are-worlds-secret-weapon-curbing-climate
WE SHOULD — create Native Nations, where the land is managed in an indigenous manner and we non Natives — can learn from the masters, how to manage the land.
