Native Mattolians Managed With Fire The issue of whether or not to burn and how to accomplish safe and productive burning is not new to the Mattole. Native American communities within the watershed practiced frequent burning on the landscape for thousands of years. Whereas current forest and land management prescriptions are concerned with end-result conditions, the Native American practices encompassed diverse physical and cultural needs of their communities. Their success at making a living in the Mattole for those thousands of years while leaving abundant salmon runs and healthy grasslands and forests makes it imperative that we understand how and why they succeeded.
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