Crater Lake Fire Crews Help the Klamath Tribes Return Fire to a Meadow

Crater Lake module leader John Harwood discusses the firing plan with a crew member from The Nature Conservancy. NPS / P. Heitzke.

The burn

In May 2024, Crater Lake National Park's fire and fuels staff helped the Klamath Tribes with the North Casino prescribed fire — 12 acres of treaty land in Chiloquin, Oregon, that hadn't burned in at least 70 years.

The southeast corner of the North Casino burn. NPS / P. Heitzke.

Why burn

• Restore the meadow: reintroduce fire to return the land toward pre-contact conditions. It had been a meadow of "first foods" — edible roots — crowded out by sagebrush and bitterbrush.
• Toughen the pines: burn off the lower limbs of scattered ponderosa pines so they better survive wildfire.
• Reduce fuels near Klamath Tribes buildings.

Building partnership and capacity

• Across boundaries: working together strengthens ties between the Park Service and the Tribes for future fuels and fire work on both park and Tribal lands — "fire does not recognize boundaries."
• Training: the Klamath Tribes are building their own fuels management and fire suppression program. Tribal members got hands-on burning experience, and a member of the Tribes' fire staff served as firing boss trainee.

The firing group lights the last section of the burn. NPS / P. Heitzke.

With 12 acres burned successfully, both groups hope for a long-standing partnership managing more of the landscape together — and Crater Lake reaffirmed its commitment to partners and helping where it can.

Sources

Based on "NPS assists Tribes with prescribed fire near Crater Lake National Park," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.