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.
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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
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Lois Conner Bohna | Photo: KCET 
