This past January, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved a burn plan for the university, which comprises 143 acres of campus woodlands, wetlands, and prairies.

Present-day Kansas woodlands, wetlands, and prairies are fire-dependent and have co-evolved with fire for millennia. Historically, fires occurred naturally (i.e., through lightning strikes) and were intentionally lit by Indigenous Peoples such as the Kanza, Osage, Pawnee, Wichita, and Shawnee Peoples. While historical Wakarusa River Valley fire regimes are not well known, it is likely these lands would have burned approximately every 1-3 years (Frost, 1998). 

The land at Haskell has not experienced controlled burning for many decades; some areas likely over 100 years. While the Haskell Greenhouse has been working diligently on restoration initiatives since May of 2023, without the return fire, these ecosystems cannot thrive.

With this approved burn plan, we look forward to convening community and (re)connecting Indigenous Peoples with fire as a cultural practice and tool for land care initiatives locally, regionally, nationally, and beyond. Through the return of fire to our communities, lands may be healed to biodiverse, thriving ecosystems they were and have been for millennia. 

We are looking forward to returning cultural and controlled burns back to Haskell lands so these Sacred Wakarusa River Valley lands, waters, and many more-than-human relations may thrive into the future.