Graduation Date
Spring 2026
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources: option Environmental Science and Management
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Daniel Lipe
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Laurie Richmond
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Erin Kelly
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Ecocultural resilience, Living shaded fuel break, Indigenous research methodologies, Care-based land stewardship, Place-based knowledge, Karuk Tribe, Wildfire mitigation, Community adaptation, Talk Story, Living infrastructure, Catastrophic wildfires, Northern California
Subject Categories
Environmental Science and Management
Abstract
Escalating wildfire severity across California reflects not only changing climatic conditions but also the cumulative impacts of colonial land management systems that have disrupted Indigenous fire stewardship and altered forest structure and function. This project examines how wildfire mitigation infrastructure, specifically linear fuel treatments, such as fuel breaks, can be reimagined through Indigenous relational frameworks of care-based land stewardship. Grounded in Happy Camp (Athithúfvuunupma), California, within the ancestral homelands of the Karuk Tribe along the mid-Klamath River, this research is carried out in collaboration with Karuk knowledge holders, centering Indigenous knowledge systems and priorities.
Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates document review, Talk Story sessions, and field implementation, the study evaluates the ecological and social dimensions of fire management strategies through engaging in the process of creating a living shaded fuel break within the burn scar of the 2020 Slater fire. The project proposes that fuel breaks, understood as strips of land in which vegetation, debris, and litter have been reduced or modified to control or diminish the spread of fire, when transformed into living systems designed and maintained through relational, culturally informed, place-based approaches, can function not as short-term infrastructure but as sites of enduring ecological and community resilience. This research offers one pathway for reimagining wildfire mitigation to support both ecosystem health and cultural continuity in an era of increasing fire activity.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Lopes, Natalee Nicole, "Relational approaches to fire resilience: Designing a living shaded fuel break with Indigenous knowledge systems" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2565.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2565