Footsteps amongst the berries: the ecology and fire history of traditional Gitsxan and Wet'suwet'en huckleberry sites

This is a multidisciplinary study of first Nations environmental management using landscape burning. Five Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en traditional black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) gathering areas were sampled for ecological, cultural and fire history attributes. The sites were divided into three elevation categories (400-700m, 701-1000m, 1001 +m) for the purposes of analysis. Low elevation sites were located on cool (NE) aspects, while middle and high elevation sites were on warm (SW) aspects. Low and middle elevation sites had relatively even terrain and moderate to steep slopes, while high elevation sites were characterized by rolling, upland plateaus. All sites were predominantly mesic to submesic with medium to poor nutrient status. Higher elevation sites were most variable with a broader ecological niche occupied by black huckleberry. Fire history sampling indicated that fires had been much more frequent on these sites than the benchmark values of the "natural" fire regimes. Most sites exhibited little evidence of previous forest conditions, and in all cases huckleberry production was nonexistent at present due to competition from fire sensitive species. Successional patterns were variable at middle and low elevations with both trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) dominated stands occupying similar site types. It is postulated that the characteristics of recent fire events and the availability of abundant hemlock seed are important determinants of post-fire succession on these sites. The Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en managed several specific site types for black huckleberry, a strategy that would both extend the effective harvest period and mitigate against crop failure in any particular locale. Landscape burning of black huckleberry patches was an environmental management tool, which promoted predictability and reliability in this patchy resource that was critically important to the subsistence, commercial and cultural lives of both the Wet'suwet'en and the Gitxsan.