Elder Edward Perley recalled, as a boy, watching the people of his community conducting controlled burns to keep their forested land healthy. …“If they noticed that there was a piece of the forest somewhere that was diseased, they would go and they would burn that area,” said Perley, a Wolastoqey knowledge keeper and fire keeper from Nekotkuk in New Brunswick. …As climate change warms up the planet, and we experience hotter, more intense fires, Perley and others believe that fire isn’t always something to be feared. It can also be used as a tool to prevent those blazes from causing wider devastation. …Jonathon Cote, a land guardian with Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg in Quebec, is actively working to bring back the practice to his community and others. …Provincial regulations limiting prescibed burns make it more challenging to be able to use fire in traditional ways, Cote said.