Glenn Jones (left), a graduate student in the COF’s Forest Engineering, Resources & Management (FERM) department, is collaborating with Chris Dunn to reconstruct historical and cultural fire regimes on the east slope of the Central Oregon Coast Range. Supported by the Bureau of Land Management’s Seeds of Success grant, Jones’ work involves a partnership with the BLM and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI).

Blending Indigenous knowledge with Western science, the project addresses knowledge gaps in the Coast Range about fire return intervals and aims to revive traditional burning practices for CTCLUSI. A Hoopa Valley Tribal member, Jones brings personal experience with cultural burning to his work—an approach that supports habitats, maintains ecologically significant species, and sustains traditional resources. He’s also training to become a federally recognized Burn Boss, expanding his impact in helping Oregon Tribes increase cultural burns.

“This research is not only meaningful to me personally, its impactful to our next seven generations as we face an uncertain future with climate change and contemporary wildfires,” Jones shares. “Co-stewardship of the landscape with Tribes, agencies, and stakeholders is essential in informing management of forest ecosystems of the future.”

Phase one of the project—establishing plots, stem mapping, and tree coring—is complete. Phase two begins this winter with fire scar cutting and tree ring analysis.

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