One Torch at a Time, One Acre at a Time
Doing Our Part to Bring Fire Back to the Land
Note: I originally wrote this for the Tuolumne Prescribed Burn Association, published on their substack that you should definitly subscribe to.
Since 2013 when the Rim Fire tore through portions of the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park, California has entered what is now known as the age of the mega-fires. Ripping off more than 257,000 acres, at the time, the Rim Fire became California’s third largest wildfire in recorded history by 2025 the Rim Fire was no longer in the top ten crowded out by the likes of the August Complex (#1, 1,032,648 acres, 2020), the Dixie (#2, 963,309 acres, 2021) and most recently, the Park Fire (#4, 429,603 acres, 2024).
Those fires are ranked in total number of acres burned, if we were to switch our lens to human destruction, the Camp Fire of 2018 which consumed more than 18,000 structures and was responsible for 85 deaths and the combination of the Palisades and Eaton Fires of 2025 where 30 people lost their life in addition to the more than 16,000 structures were destroyed come into sharper focus.
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It is incontrovertible that California has a problem and while there are several factors contributing to this crisis (climate change, improper forest management, excess fuel loading, building homes into the wildland urban interface) the question we must now ask ourselves – do we need more fire? As we will demonstrate, the answer is unquestionably and resoundingly – Yes but the right fire, at the right time and at the right place.
According to researchers at the University of California, Berkely, prior to 1850 California burned on average 4.5 million acres annually over a 30-year cycle that could see up to 11.5 million acres burned. Those fires, a combination of lightning strikes and intentionally set fires by native people, worked to clear underbrush across the state’s forest resulting in healthy forests able to withstand the ebbs and flows of California’s drought and fire cycle (fire return interval). What changed? As white settlers moved into the area, a policy of immediate fire suppression took hold, only now are federal and state land managers beginning to understand the need for more fire on the ground.
The California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Taskforce tracks the number of acres treated across the state by federal, state, and private land managers through their Interagency Treatment Board. In 2023, the combination of all parties treated 1,058,306 acres – less than 25% of what California has historically experienced. If we are to get ourselves out of this wildfire crisis then it is clear much more must be done on the landscape to treat the acres that need treated. You and I, individually, are not capable of moving the needle when it comes to federal or state budgets. While we exercise our agency with a vote our voice on this issue, sadly, typically ends there.
There is another way, a way we can act to bring good fire back to the landscape and actively participate in restoring the health of our forests while protecting our homes. The answer lays in local Prescribed Burn Associations (PBA).
But what is a PBA?
PBA’s are a community based, mutual-aid networks that help private landowners put good fire back on the land. The idea behind the PBA is similar to a barn-raising or a calf-branding – its neighbors helping neighbors implementing burns by providing labor, equipment and skills. The barriers to entry have been removed – you don’t need a high degree of training, you don’t need specialized skills – you need a willingness to learn, to work hard and a commitment to your community.
In Tuolumne County, the Stanislaus National Forest (as just one piece of Federal and State actions on this problem) has undertaken the ambitious Stanislaus Landscape Project to treat more than 300,000 acres, mostly in Tuolumne County. But here’s where you and I come in – of those 300,000 acres, 127,000 acres are on private lands – areas the staff at the National Forest cannot work.
We need you! We need you to become an active participant in our efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire by becoming a member of the Tuolumne PBA. Recently reformed from the ashes of the Motherlode PBA, we are working to engage landowners, to train and educate individuals and activate an army of neighbors willing to lean into the hard work that must be done if we are to give our communities the best chance of surviving the next Rim Fire. While there is no one silver bullet that will get us out of this current situation, one critical piece of the puzzle is literally in OUR hands.
Join Today: tuolumnepba.org
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