Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Talking Fire with "Acorn Lady" Lois Conner Bohna

12/10/2016

Lois Conner Bohna | Photo: KCET

Lois Conner Bohna, The Acorn Lady, is a North Fork Mono artist and cultural educator who lives and works in Coarsegold, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. We spoke with her during our filming of Tending The Wild. This is a partial transcript of that conversation.

What is a cultural burn?

A cultural burn is a fire that you set on purpose. Last February, we didnt get a drop of rain. What a waste, because we should have been burning, but you cant burn because [the Forest Service] doesnt want you to, you can get in a lot of trouble setting the woods on fire, especially for a cultural burn.

What is the importance of cultural burning?

Fire is so beneficial to us; [it] creates new life. Youve got the fire and then before too long, youve got new life springing up almost immediately. Fire and water, theyre inseparable. If we could have a fire, it [would] bring the springs back, the water level comes up, so the springs hold more water. Youve got to have fire. Water alone won't do the trick.

I remember where there used to be sedge growing, and then wed come back a year later and those plants had disappeared. Ive watched the environment change in many places all because of water.

The meadows and the high country are the big [issue], thats the thing we really want to protect and weve got encroachment, those trees they just grow in on the meadow. They just keep growing and growing and growing and before you know it the meadows gone. Its changed from meadow to forest land, so its very subtle and everywhere you go in the high country you see it happening, so its pretty sad. Fire alleviates all that.

--

--

What effects do fire suppression and tree overpopulation have on on the land?

Our environment is out of balance. Not only are plants are out of balance, but the animals are out of balance This land is, I hate to say it, but [it's] pretty much dead. My grandmas and aunties taught me how everything needs to be in balance. Your body is in balance, you have two eyes, two arms, two feet, two kidneys, everything in your body is in balance.

My grandmother used to keep a set of clippers in her apron when she went out and walked around. She would look at her environment and say, That tree doesnt belong there, and shed cut it off. There are literally thousands of little bitty of cedar trees coming up. My grandmother would have never let that happen, never. She took care of her environment. She couldnt burn very often. Shed burn little brush piles but she said, Honey, we just cant burn like we used to. She said our trees are sick because we cant burn. If your equilibrium gets off you arent moving forward too long, youre going to be falling over.

Watch the Cultural Burning segment of Tending The Wild

Like right now, you see all these dead cedar trees down there. If a fire started over on the highway and came this way, I hate to say it, but youre going to get very warm because these trees are going to torch and theyre going to kill all these black oak trees. Its going to be unstoppable unless theyve got a DC-10 up there, then they can stop it.

Everything pretty much revolves around the oak tree.

Live oak? That tree will burn green. When it gets dry in the summer, it doesnt burn, it explodes because it has so much oil in it, in the leaves, it literally explodes. Most of these hillsides around here are all live oak. In the town of Oakhurst, people have got their houses built under live oak trees. The potential for disaster is unbelievable. You tell them to cut them down, [and they say] its green, it wont burn. They just wont listen.

I think our environment is just about to tip over, and thats really really sad. When I say tip over its all going to get destroyed by fire. Wildfires just destroy, they kill. But try having this conversation with the Forest Service, then you hear a lot of snickering going on in the room.

How does the forest agency feel about cultural burning? What are the effects not having cultural burns?

The oak trees are going to go away. We have got to get our spiritual act together and start showing our appreciation, but our hands are tied because we have to answer to the Forest Service if they say no burning. They wasted a beautiful February. Not a drop of rain in February. You ask them, why didnt you burn? Burning costs a lot of money. Burning is expensive. My travel chairman, Ron Goode, hes managed to get some grants and weve done some restoration and some burning. Not much.

Lois Connner Bohna peels acorns. | Photo: KCET

Whats the importance of oak trees and acorns in your culture?

What we care about is our oak trees. That was our staff of life. Everything pretty much revolves around the oak tree. And, acorns unite people to me, it's a sacred food. Its just fantastic for the human body. Its one of the healthiest foods you can eat.

It is difficult to find acorns because the trees are unhealthy and there's competition from other trees taking their water. There are five of us in the North Fork area that gather acorns and we cant even find enough for ourselves at this point. Youve got all this duff on the ground, the bugs are just horrible and as soon as the acorns come on, the bugs just attack the trees.

A long time ago, there were more oak trees. A lot have died. A lot. We dont know what to do, but Mother Nature is trying to take care of herself by killing off these extra trees that dont belong here to help out. As I said earlier, my grandmas would not allow their environment to look this way. Theyre going to eat or cut trees, prune them. When they would go through, theyre going to burn. Their number one thing was their oak trees. That sustained not only them but the squirrels and the squirrels provide for the other animals. Everything was in balance a long time ago. Now, it is totally out of balance. So, it all comes back
LINK: https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild/its-all-about-fire-a-talk-...
See more stories from kcet

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

You Will Leave Opus Singing the Original Bops Performed by John Malkovich

(L-R) Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, John Malkovich, Ayo Edebiri, and Juliette Lewis attend the premiere of Opus at Eccles Theatre in Park City. (Photo by...

13/03/2025

How Spotify Is Driving Growth, Discovery, and Innovation in the Audiobook Market

Spotify took center stage at the London Book Fair this week, reaffirming our commitment to the audiobook market and showcasing our impact on the publishing indu...

13/03/2025

Spotify Audiobooks Launches a New Publishing Program for Independent Authors

At Spotify, we work every day to lift up new voices, giving creators the opportunity to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, our in-house publishing ...

13/03/2025

Evolving EO/IR Technology For All-Domain Airborne Law Enforcement

Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Jamie McCombs, Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio

Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Paul Sandweiss, Production Sound Mixer/Audio Director

On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...

13/03/2025

Riedel To Showcase New StageLink Smart Edge Devices At 2025 NAB Show

WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...

13/03/2025

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring for VOS360 Streaming Workflows at the 2025 NAB Show

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...

13/03/2025

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage Platform that Empowers Video Teams to Scale Effortlessly

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...

13/03/2025

Ajit Pai Appointed President of CTIA

CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...

13/03/2025

NAB: FCC's 60 Minutes Investigation Is Unconstitutional, Invalid

he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...

13/03/2025

CBS Miami to Launch AR Coverage of Weather and Sports for March Madness

MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...

13/03/2025

Meet the co-founder and chief customer success & innovation officer

Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

13/03/2025

Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content

Roku Debuts NWSL Zone' Within Roku Sports to Spotlight Live Games, Content Feature marks Rokus first women's league-branded zone within service By Bra...

13/03/2025

Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew Cross

Pixels, Images, Video, AI - and Us: A Perspective on AI from NDI Inventor Andrew...

13/03/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size on Completing Customizable Studios for All Clients

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lighting Design Group's Steve Brill, Dennis Size ...

13/03/2025

IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036; Add Digital Projects, Initiatives

IOC, Comcast NBCU Ink $3B Media-Rights Extension for Olympic Games Through 2036;...

13/03/2025

NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical Video Feed, Mascot Mode, and Popular Boss Button

NCAA March Madness Live Returns with Expanded Availability of MultiView Vertical...

13/03/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive Experience for Daytona, The PLAYERS, and March Madness

SVG Sit-Down: Cosm's Devin Poolman on What It Takes To Deliver the Immersive...

13/03/2025

Sky Business Launches Cloud Voice A New Cloud Communication Solution for UK Businesses

Sky Business, Sky's B2B division, providing connectivity and content to busi...

13/03/2025

Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark for F band applications

Rohde & Schwarz launches R&S NRP140TWG(N) thermal power sensor: A new benchmark ...

13/03/2025

The ICG Marketing Survey 2025

We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey. Our 2025 survey p...

13/03/2025

Harmonic Amps Up Video Streaming Efficiency with New Origin Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...

13/03/2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025 Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme Connecting the Present, Building the Future Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...

13/03/2025

2025-03-13

A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...

13/03/2025

Italia 90 Republic of Ireland Squad, Riverdance, Cian Ducrot & B*Witched on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...

13/03/2025

RT Celebrating all things Irish this St. Patrick's Weekend

This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...

13/03/2025

GTC 2025 - Announcements and Live Updates

What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...

13/03/2025

T-Mobile, Thales and SIMPL ease IoT deployments with a flexible and secure connectivity solution

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...

13/03/2025

Relive the Magic as GeForce NOW Brings More Blizzard Gaming to the Cloud

Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library. Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...

13/03/2025

Gaming Goodness: NVIDIA Reveals Latest Neural Rendering and AI Advancements Supercharging Game Development at GDC 2025

AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...

13/03/2025

Drop It Like It's Mod: Breathing New Life Into Classic Games With AI in NVIDIA RTX Remix

PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...