EcoCultural Fire Trainings
The Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance offers a series of trainings as part of the Lake EcoCultural Cal-TREX to support our community in safely and effectively implementing prescribed and cultural fire.
Our trainings focus on learning about good fire through an EcoCultural Stewardship lens.
EcoCultural Stewardship is the practice of tending a landscape in a way that is ecologically restorative while also building reciprocal relationship between people and the land, where we tend plants and animals that are culturally significant as materials for Native culture, including foods, medicine, tools, clothes, and ceremony.
Many of our trainings also incorporate curriculum from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and support building NWCG qualifications for fireline positions.
TERA’s EcoCultural Fire Trainings build knowledge and skills to bring good fire back to our lands.
TERA and WANB are hosting a Basic Wildland Firefighter/Firelighter (Basic 40/FFT2) training this July as part of the Lake Wildfire Resilience Workforce Program
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This five-day hands-on introductory course combines ecocultural fire content with NWCG Basic Wildland Firefighter curriculum (ICS-100, L-180, S-130, and S-190).
Includes work capacity test (WCT) and practice shelter deployment, and meets NWCG requirements for qualification as Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2).
Online completion of IS-700 is required prior to the start of the course.
We will be offering this course on several dates in 2025.
Upcoming Dates: Monday-Friday, July 14th-18th, 2025 as part of the Lake Wildfire Resilience Workforce Program
Location: Upper Lake, CA
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Full-day ands-on training in cultural fire concepts and practices, including reading the landscape, fire by friction, culturally significant plants, and more. For beginning and experienced fire practitioners.
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This two-day workshop is designed to prepare all Lake EcoCultural Cal-TREX participants for a successful season of burning, combining hands-on fireline skills building activities with the RT-130 Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher (WFSTAR) required to maintain currency for NWCG positions.
We will cover lessons learned from the past year, seasonal weather outlook, and operational safety, and provide hands-on opportunities to practice ignition techniques, pump operations and hose lays, plant identification and fire ecology, weather observations, wetline/blackline operations, spot fire suppression, and more.
Everyone who plans to participate in Lake Cal-TREX burns is encouraged to attend this workshop to learn, share, and sharpen your skills and build relationships with other Lake Cal-TREX participants.
Prior completion of NWCG basic firefighter training (Basic 32/40 or online equivalent) is not required to participate in this workshop, however prior qualification as FFT2 or above is required to receive the RT-130 certificate. For those who wish to receive the RT-130 certificate, an optional work capacity test (WCT) and practice shelter deployment will be offered during the training.
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This two-day NWCG course covers the roles and responsibilities of a firing boss (FIRB) for planning, execution, safety, coordination, and evaluation of an ignition operation on a wildland or prescribed fire. As with all of TERA's EcoCultural Fire Trainings, this course will also incorporate EcoCultural concepts relevant to putting fire on the ground in our specific context.
Working with a burn unit that is part of the Lake County EcoCultural Cal-TREX, students will prepare a firing plan and briefing that contains desired fire behavior, firing techniques, required resources, coordination, safety and risk management factors, and communication, to meet specific objectives.
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This two-day NWCG course is designed as a self-assessment opportunity for individuals preparing to step into a leadership role. The course combines one day of outdoor classroom instruction followed by a second day in the field with students working through a series of problem solving events in small teams. Topics include leadership values and principles, transition challenges for new leaders, situational leadership, team cohesion factors, ethical decision-making, and after action review techniques.
Prerequisites: Qualified as Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) and participation in at least 3 cultural or prescribed burns.
Trainings are held primarily outdoors in Lake and Mendocino Counties.
Individuals from all backgrounds and regions are welcome to apply. Priority acceptance for local, Native community members in Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties.
