NATIVE AMERICAN LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

ACCORDING TO KAT ANDERSON THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA HAVE PRACTICED TRADITIONAL LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR OVER 12,000 YEARS. MANY TRIBES PRACTICED UNDERSTORY BURNING WHICH AFFECTED THE EVOLUTIONARY COURSE OF HOW PLANT COMMUNITIES WERE MAINTAINED. MANY TRIBES TRADED WITH EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE A WIDE VARIETY OF PLANTS AND MEDICINALS.

THEIR VILLAGE SITES WERE BASICALLY TENDED AND PRUNED VS. WHAT MOST FOLKS THINK. THEY PRACTICED A WIDE VARIETY OF PLANTING, TRANSPLANTING, THINNING, PRUNING, DIGGING, HARVESTING AND SEEDING OF NATIVE PLANTS.

THESE ACTIVITIES INCREASED AN AREA'S PRODUCTIVITY FOR THE NEAR BY AREA. THEIR PRACTICES ASSISTED IN REPRODUCTION AND INCREASED EDIBLE PLANT SPECIES RATHER THAN DESTROYED THEM. IN ADDITION THEY ALSO SPREAD SEEDS AROUND AN AREA WHERE THEY GATHERED PLANTS FOR CONTINUAL REPRODUCTION.