Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation and California State Parks Return Cultural Burning to See-tr’ee-ghin-dvm-dvn
Hiouchi — October 21, 2025 marked the return of traditional Tolowa Dee-ni' fire practices to See-tr'ee-ghin-dvm-dvn (Peacock Bar), located along the mainstem Smith River in what is now called Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
Nation staff and citizens, with support from the North Coast Redwoods District of California State Parks, CalFire, UC Cooperative Extension, North Coast Resource Partnership, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the US Forest Service, successfully burned approximately 10 acres of oak woodland and mixed conifer forest. This marks the first return of cultural burning to the landscape since Tolowa Dee-ni’ were forcibly removed from the area in the 1850s and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park was created in 1929.
See-tr'ee-ghin-dvm-dvn is an area of ecocultural significance and is home to Oregon white oak trees, tanoaks, redwood, hazel, and other plant species, all of which are utilized in traditional practices and ceremony of the Tolowa Dee-ni'. North Coast Redwoods District staff and Nation consultants developed a comprehensive burn plan to include multiple cultural objectives. Parks staff and CalFire provided administrative oversight, safety, and logistical support, while Tolowa citizens and staff facilitated the return of cultural burning to this portion of their ancestral homelands.
Since time immemorial, Tolowa Dee-ni' and many other Indigenous peoples have used fire as a tool to steward landscapes such as oak woodlands, prairies, and coastal forests. Deliberate and controlled burning during the appropriate season enhances natural processes by promoting the establishment of desired plant communities and the cultivation of resources for basket weaving, medicine, and traditional foods. The use of fire also maintains open foraging spaces for wildlife and reduces environmental risks, such as catastrophic wildfires and pest infestations.
The criminalization of traditional fire practices during colonization was part of the state-sanctioned effort to eradicate Indigenous people and forcibly remove them from their ancestral homelands. Today, the recognition and application of cultural burning can begin to repair and rebalance what has been lost. Cooperative stewardship between the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation and California State Parks has led to many ecosystem benefits across the Nation’s territory and the North Coast Redwoods District, and this landmark burn marks a major step forward for the partnership.
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