Learning About Fire Ecology at the Sedgwick Reserve

On May 8th, 2025, CNNCTS partners attended a site visit to the Sedgwick Reserve on Sʰamala Chumash homelands. During the visit, attendees learned about fire stewardship, cultural burning, and fire-following plants.

In collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Native Coast Action Network, and the Great Basin Tribal Alliance at the Desert Research Institute, the Collaborative of Native Nations for Climate Transformation and Stewardship (CNNCTS) partners from San Diego State University and Climate Science Alliance held a Stewardship Pathways training event on May 8, 2025 at the Sedgwick Reserve. Located in Santa Barbara’s Santa Ynez Valley—home to the Sʰamala Chumash peoples since time immemorial—Sedgwick Reserve is a research, conservation, and education facility managed by CNNCTS partner, the UC Santa Barbara Natural Reserve System (UCSB NRS). 

In recent years, Sedgwick has experienced both planned burns and wildfires. Between 2022 and 2024, the Reserve has hosted three prescribed burns through Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX), conducted in collaboration with Chumash community members, the U.S. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and fire practitioners representing a variety of organizations, agencies, and communities. In 2024 the Lake Fire burned 38,664 acres in Santa Barbara County, much of which fell within the Los Padres National Forest. Approximately half of the Sedgwick Reserve’s acreage was burned by the Lake Fire. This Stewardship Pathways training was created to provide a unique opportunity for 50 attendees to visit the prescribed burn sites and the Lake Fire burn scar, learning from Tribal and non-Tribal fire practitioners and land stewards who shared their insights on fire co-stewardship.

Upon arrival at the Reserve, attendees gathered under surrounding oak trees to begin the day with a welcome from Chumash relative and CNNCTS Partner Carlie Domingues. Domingues is a PhD student studying good fire at UC Davis and co-leads the Native Coast Action Network’s Cycles of Renewal Project, advancing cultural burning on her Chumash homelands. After Carlie’s welcome, attendees heard from three Native Elders from across the Southwest who shared songs and prayers to ask the ancestors for blessings to be in this space. Before departing for the first visit of the day, attendees heard from Sedgwick Reserve Director, Heather Constable, and Director of the La Kretz Research Center at Sedgwick Reserve, Frank Davis, who gave an introduction to the Reserve’s history of co-stewardship and shared some background information on the locations that attendees would soon see in-person. 

After this welcome and introduction to the land and the day, participants departed for the Lake Fire burn scar in the Pine Needle Valley. Davis explained how the Lake Fire, a wildfire that took place in July of 2024, had burned 3,000 acres of the Sedwick Reserve. Along the way to the site, Davis and Domingues paused in a grass clearing and pointed out the types of plants growing on the land. Everyone learned to distinguish invasive grass from deer grass, which is both a native plant and cultural resource. Participants were encouraged to engage in a small act of rematriation by pulling the invasive grass out of the ground. Many felt excited to connect with the land in this way, reaching to the dirt to pull the invasive grass from their root and say hello to the deer grass.

As the walk to the burn area continued, the group discussed the importance of supporting native plants and the impacts of fire on the land. The group stopped under a blue oak tree with a view of the Lake Fire burn scar in front of them. One participant inquired about burning on larger scales and rematriating more than one consolidated patch at a time—a sentiment that many shared, and sparked conversations on how collective action could support a broader burn. Tenaya Wood-Luna, Indigenous Climate Stewardship Lead at the Desert Research Institute, brought in teachings of fire ecology, encouraging participants to consider the differences between prescribed and cultural burning. A prescribed burn is grounded by goals to remove fuel like grasses and shrubs from the landscape, while a cultural burn is guided by ceremony and reciprocal relations with the land. Both are effective in preventing future wildfires and supporting the growth of indigenous plants, though cultural burns are especially important to the inherent sovereignty of Indigenous communities.

Among the attendees were two Sʰamala Chumash participants who shared their perspectives and cultural ties to the land. They explained their relation to the oak trees, and the difference of acorns based on the type of oak. They also shared good medicine with the group through traditional Chumash songs and storytelling.

After making their way back from the Lake Fire Burn Scar, participants came together under the oak trees surrounding picnic tables, where they enjoyed lunch and spent time connecting with each other. A small spotting scope was set up just across the way, the view locked on two baby Great-horned owls sleeping in an oak tree.

Photo by Heather Constable

Following lunch, everyone carpooled up to one of the TREX burn sites. Participants were met with a wide view of the reserve, the lake, and the surrounding mountains, where everyone’s attention was drawn to the burn scar that ran along a mountain near the lake. As the group stood atop the mountain, they discussed the challenges of prescribed burning in highly populated landscapes as well as what plants began to flourish as a result of returning fire to the land. Joelene Tamm, Director of the Natural Resources Department with the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, also provided her perspective on wildfire impacts and the importance of cultural burning in relation to managing invasive species, such as the goldspotted oak borer, which has resulted in substantial oak mortality in San Diego County and is expanding northward. Her experience with  cultural burning highlighted its role in improving forest health, which in turn creates resiliency and aids forest recovery from invasive species. Tamm noted that while it is not yet known if cultural burning can help manage the invasive goldspotted oak borer, research indicates that prescribed fire, when used alongside infested tree removal, has the potential to reduce beetles emerging from heavily charred wood by up to 96%.

Reserve staff and Sʰamala Chumash participants took a pause from the discussion to point out the vast growth of chia—an indigenous plant to the land—that surrounded us. As folks took in the scene, one of the Sʰamala Chumash participants also identified native sage growing nearby, inviting other participants to touch and smell the leaves. Their shared knowledge of these native plants brought the landscape to life and helped participants connect to the land more deeply. 

The special visit to Sedgwick Reserve provided participants with a firsthand perspective on the ecological impacts of wildfire and the importance of prescribed burns and wildland fire. Participants were given space to share their insights, observations, and questions, fostering a sense of community and mutual respect. Being present together in this landscape allowed participants to not only strengthen their connections with one another, but also their commitments to stewardship and collective action.

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The CNNCTS team from San Diego State University and the Climate Science Alliance team thank our Chumash partners who welcomed us into their homelands, and shared their stories, songs, and science with us. We are grateful to the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Native Coast Action Network, and Great Basin Tribal Alliance at Desert Research Institute, who shared their time and knowledge with us to co-create an incredible training event and nurture future opportunities to advance this important work. Thank you to the staff at the UC Santa Barbara Natural Reserve System and La Kretz Research Center for their support of this training, and their dedication to co-stewardship and ongoing contributions to the CNNCTS network of partners.

This Stewardship Pathways training was made possible with support from a University of California Climate Action grant and  the National Forest Foundation. Learn more at nationalforests.org.