Restoring Forest Health through Cultural Burning | Dynamic Planet

As wildfires worsen across California, Indigenous stewards of the Yurok Tribe are reintroducing ancient cultural burning practices to restore fire resilience to forests.

Students will explore the Yurok Tribe’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to learn how ancient stewardship methods can be integrated into modern land management practices. Students are encouraged to think critically about how TEK can contribute to environmental stewardship, especially biodiversity conservation and restoration and climate change resilience.

A lesson plan provides an opportunity for students to research the Yurok Tribe’s TEK to apply to a public service announcement (PSA) at their school or local community or to engage with their local Indigenous Group to learn about and potentially incorporate traditions into local environmental projects.

About the Author
Dr. Jennifer Cao is a Special Project Coordinator for the Environmental Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs) in Southern California. With over a decade of experience in education, she advocates for climate and environmental literacy and specializes in culturally relevant pedagogy that promotes equity in 21st-century science teaching. As a former secondary science teacher, she empowers educators and students to become change agents for a sustainable future.