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How can First Nation and Indigenous communities regain power over their long-honed land stewardship and cultural burning practices? How can these practices be done without the influence of Westernized practices, which includes prescribed burning?



Today&#8217;s guest Amy Cardinal Christianson, a Métis woman and Fire Social Scientist for the Canadian Forest Service, addressed these questions (and so, so many others) for us in today&#8217;s episode. On top of advocating for greater authority for First Nation communities over their ancestral lands, Amy also has an extensive background in researching the connection between First Nation communities and wildfire. Her most recent research centers heavily on wildfire evacuations in First Nations communities in Canada; various overlapping factors (like remote locations and a lack of emergency response infrastructure) often result in disproportionate wildfire impacts to First Nations communities.



We owe a huge thank you to Amy for coming on the show to share her perspective; it was a privilege to learn about the work she&#8217;s involved in, as well as how First Nations communities continue to reestablish control over their homelands—while touching on some of the roadblocks she&#8217;s experienced along the way. To hear more from Amy, you can check out her absolutely stellar podcast, &#8220;Good Fire,&#8221; here:&nbsp;<a href="https://yourforestpodcast.com/good-fire-podcast">https://yourforestpodcast.com/good-fire-podcast</a>



Finally, this episode is sponsored by Mystery Ranch Backpacks, which recently came out with women&#8217;s-specific sizing on their fire packs (!!!) which we are inordinately excited about. Whether you need something that can keep up on day after day of digging line or a bomber duffel bag for weekend trips, you can rest assured that Mystery Ranch packs come ready to be used hard and put away wet, no matter what. You can dig around on their website here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mysteryranch.com/womens-hotshot-tl-wildland-fire-pack">https://www.mysteryranch.com/womens-hotshot-tl-wildland-fire-pack</a>

Indigenous-Led Fire Stewardship with Amy Cardinal-Christianson

Triss Seemiller is a trans woman who started gender-affirming hormone therapy when she was on a shot crew in California. She transitioned soon after she left the crew. She has occasionally felt uneasy about sharing her identity with coworkers since transitioning, and in this episodes walks us through her breadth of experiences on different crews to talk about situations where she felt most empowered and comfortable being herself, as well as the situations that made her question her desire to stick with fire as a career. Through it all, she provides some incredible perspective on what it&#8217;s like to navigate modern fire culture as a trans woman, and offers some suggestions for folks who want to build a more inclusive culture on their own crews and districts.&nbsp;



This episode is sponsored by #ForestProud—a community of land stewards focused on keeping forests as forests while fighting for forest climate solutions in the era of climate change. They serve to &#8220;connect the dots&#8221; between organizations, initiatives, those interested in joining the forest sector and those already involved. To check out some of their great content, follow them on Instagram and Twitter at @forestproud. To become a member, learn more about them or donate, check out their <a href="https://forestproud.org">website</a>.

How Can Fire Culture Become More Inclusive? with Triss Seemiller

Bobbie Scopa has had quite a long and storied fire career—she recently retired after 45 years working in both wildland and municipal fire, during which she worked her way into the Chief position and into numerous leadership positions over her career with the Forest Service. Notably, she was present on the Dude Fire in 1990, where six firefighters were tragically killed, and even served at Ground Zero after 9/11.



But Bobbie&#8217;s story doesn&#8217;t start and end with firefighting. She&#8217;s also a trans woman, and has experienced the fire world as both a man and woman, having transitioned to female between fire seasons in the late 1980s. This gives Bobbie an exceedingly rare perspective on gender dynamics on the fireline—perspectives that she now shares widely through her podcast, Bobbie on Fire, as well as her new book, Both Sides of the Fireline, which is available for pre-order and will be released this fall. Through it all, Bobbie maintains an incredible ability to tell stories that serve not only as valuable lessons learned, but often as funny and relatable anecdotes for anyone who has worked in fire—and especially for those who are underrepresented in the fire space.&nbsp;



To hear more of Bobbie&#8217;s stories, check out her&nbsp;<a href="https://bobbieonfire.com/author/brscopa/">podcast</a>&nbsp;and website.&nbsp;



To pre-order Bobbie&#8217;s book, find it on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/both-sides-of-the-fire-line-bobbie-scopa/1140922971">Barnes and Noble&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;or through our host&#8217;s favorite local bookstore,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.villagebooks.com/book/9781641608060">Village Books</a>&nbsp;in Fairhaven, WA.&nbsp;



For more information on our newest sponsor, #ForestProud, check out their&nbsp;<a href="https://forestproud.org/">website</a>.&nbsp;



To support Life with Fire, check out our&nbsp;<a href="https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">Patreon</a>.

A Life Of Fire as a Trans Woman, with Bobbie Scopa

In the second half of our conversation with Jane Park, we spoke about some of the diversity initiatives that Jane has spearheaded within Banff National Park and Parks Canada as a whole. We also spoke about Jane&#8217;s experiences of working in fire as a Korean-Canadian woman and type 1 incident commander, and why she thinks it&#8217;s imperative to bring more people of color and women into the wildfire and prescribed fire spaces. Be sure to check out our first episode with Jane, which covers prescribed fire and fire management in Banff National Park!&nbsp;



Mystery Ranch&#8217;s new women&#8217;s-specific fire packs: https://www.mysteryranch.com/Packs/Fire/New



Life with Fire Patreon: www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod

Diversity in Fire with Jane Park (Part Two)

In our second episode of the Women in Wildfire series, we brought on Banff National Park Fire and Vegetation Management Specialist Jane Park, who on top of being a profound presence in the wildfire and prescribed fire management space is also, quite simply, really frickin cool (and very fun to chat with). Jane is a Korean-Canadian woman and a type one incident commander; she has also played a huge role in building more diversity within the Canada Parks system, and has notable on-the-ground achievements in bringing more progressive fire management to Banff National Park. We broke this conversation up in to two parts, with the first focusing on fire ecology/regimes in and around Banff, as well as some of the prescribed fire initiatives Jane has led in the park (and a whole lot more).



Stay tuned for the second half of our conversation with Jane, which will be published later next week.&nbsp;



We also want to give a big shout out to our new sponsor, Mystery Ranch Backpacks. To browse their seemingly endless catalog of backpacks for any activity you can think of, check out their website:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mysteryranch.com/">www.mysteryranch.com</a>



To see Mystery Ranch&#8217;s new women-specific fire packs (!!), check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mysteryranch.com/Packs/Fire/New">https://www.mysteryranch.com/Packs/Fire/New</a>. &nbsp;



To donate to Life with Fire, check out our Patreon—patrons who donate at the $15 level and up will recieve a Mystery Ranch swag pack, while those who donate at $20 and up will get a Life with Fire calendar:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod">www.patreon.com/lifewithfirepod</a>

Prescribed Fire Management in Banff National Park with Jane Park

Life with Fire Podcast

Life with Fire Podcast

Episodes

Ep. 34—Indigenous-Led Fire Stewardship with Amy Cardinal-Christianson

Ep. 33—How Can Fire Culture Become More Inclusive? with Triss Seemiller

Ep. 32—A Life Of Fire as a Trans Woman, with Bobbie Scopa

Ep. 31—Diversity in Fire with Jane Park (Part Two)

Ep. 30—Prescribed Fire Management in Banff National Park with Jane Park

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