As reported by Detroit Free Press reporter Keith Matheny for USA Today, Canada faces the same escalating wildfire challenges as the western U.S.
In response, Canadian governments are investing heavily in firefighting technology, equipment, personnel, and community preparedness.
However, experts suggest that part of the solution may lie in ancient indigenous practices, particularly cultural burning.
Cultural burning, practiced by indigenous peoples for centuries, involves intentionally setting fires for various cultural and survival needs.
According to Robert Gray, a wildland fire ecologist in Chilliwack, British Columbia, these fires helped maintain the landscape by consuming dead vegetation and preventing large-scale fires.
Gray explained: “They burned for medicinal plants, for food plants, to produce firewood, to produce teepee poles, other technological uses — warmth, cooking, everything else. It was how you survived on this landscape.”
Cultural burning has a long history, with fires set in early spring or late fall to manage vegetation and prevent larger wildfires.
First Nations people passed down the knowledge of which plants and trees to burn and when to achieve specific benefits.
This practice resulted in better-spaced forests and reduced the risk of large-scale wildfires.
However, European settlers banned cultural burning for over a century, leading to denser forests and higher wildfire risks.
Joe Gilchrist, a member of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, highlighted the benefits of these practices: “So there was a mosaic of different age groups, different field types, tree types.
“It wasn’t just one monoculture of trees across the landscape, which it is now. Everything now is dry and dying and diseased.
“And these huge fires now have all the fuel they need and are pretty much unstoppable.”
In recent years, cultural burning has regained acceptance in Canada due to the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires.
The record-breaking wildfire season in 2023, which saw nearly 58,000 square miles burn, has underscored the need for effective fire management strategies.
Provinces and Parks Canada are gradually incorporating prescribed burning, though it remains less prevalent in Canada compared to the U.S.
Jill Harvey, a fire ecologist at Thompson Rivers University, supports the restoration of cultural burning.
She stated: “The indigenous communities have an intimate and intricate knowledge of how fire can be used to reduce risk, and this knowledge needs to be brought to the forefront of wildfire management and planning in British Columbia and elsewhere throughout Canada and throughout the world.”
Legal and bureaucratic obstacles have historically hindered the practice of cultural burning.
The Bush Fire Act of 1874 criminalized intentional wildland burning by indigenous people in British Columbia.
Only in the past decade has cultural burning become more acceptable and decriminalized.
Kiah Allen of BC Wildfire Service emphasized the importance of removing these barriers: “Our job is to identify and remove red tape preventing First Nations people from using cultural burning, for them to be sovereign.”
Despite these challenges, cultural burning has shown significant potential in mitigating wildfire risks.
For example, prescribed burns around the Canadian Rockies International Airport in Cranbrook helped protect the airport and nearby communities during the St. Mary’s River wildfire in 2023.
Canada is facing escalating wildfire challenges, prompting governments to invest heavily in modern firefighting technology and community preparedness.
However, experts highlight the potential of ancient indigenous practices, such as cultural burning, to manage and reduce wildfire risks.
Cultural burning, practiced for centuries by indigenous peoples, involves setting controlled fires to manage vegetation and prevent large-scale wildfires.
Despite historical bans and legal challenges, cultural burning is regaining acceptance in Canada.
Experts and communities are working to reintroduce these practices to create healthier forests and reduce the frequency and severity of wildfires.
