Participants tending a cultural burn at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve that was designed to demonstrate Native American practices for beneficial fire. Photos: TNS
Diana Almendariz often uses tule for basket weaving, but on this day she uses the dried bulrush wrapped around a cattail to carry fire across a narrow trail to a small field. She sets the tufted bundle down with intention to start the first of three new fires within a two-acre (0.8ha) garden.
Minutes before, Eliud Rios attached a bright yellow bag to his back – a bladder full of water. In his hand, he wields a metal water hose. Acting as a watcher, the urban forester holds the flames at bay, keeping the fire contained to the desired acreage and plants, spilling water out onto the redbud trees.
