Rick remembers his grandmother’s stories of how fire was used to help the forest when she was a little girl. When Rick was a young man, he helped burn piles of brush from his grandparents’ home to keep it safe. Over time, Rick started using fire more and more to restore balance to the ecosystem that the Yurok people rely on. Now, as the fire coordinator for the Cultural Fire Management Council (CFMC), he continues to rebuild these connections by regularly facilitating prescribed burns and fire trainings for his community.