From Fire to Fertility

Reimagining Resilience in a Changing World

When I think of resilience, my mind doesn’t leap to tech-heavy solutions or shiny headlines promising salvation. Instead, it lingers on a woman named Brittany Cole Bush, standing alongside a flock of goats and sheep, in a field scorched by the unforgiving cycles of California’s wildfires.

To understand why I think of a “shepherdess,” instead of multi-billion dollar direct air capture (DAC) machines, let’s rewind to my upbringing in rural Australia, where drought and disaster were as common as sunshine and to the very essence of how we relate to the land.

The Land as Teacher

Until the age of nine, much of my childhood was spent in Tamworth, Australia—a town known for country music and dust. The lessons of that place, with its six-year-long drought and mouse plague, left an indelible mark on my psyche. I later moved to my mother’s birthplace of Louisiana where hurricanes regularly tested the limits of survival. Their unmistakable howl marked a thin line between life and death. The mega hurricanes that would later reshape New Orleans and much of southern Louisiana, Rita and Katrina, still haunt me. At some stage in my youth, I worked on farms in Europe, building fire breaks in Spain as we watched some of the first mega wildfires racing toward us across mountaintops.

Then finally came my new home, California, a place that seduces with its golden hills but burns like a tinderbox.

When the Thomas Fire roared through Ventura County in 2017 it was the largest wildfire at that time in California’s history. Like many, my family and I evacuated southward to the safety of Los Angeles. (The irony of this action, which is the opposite of most disaster movies in which the cities are first consumed should not be lost on anyone who enjoys Hollywood productions). As we drove from our home past the burning buildings of Ventura, it became clear to those who fled Ojai and Santa Barbara, that we had entered a new era – the era of living in a post-climate changed world.

With fire and ash consuming Ojai and mudslides besieging some of the wealthiest and most prominent members of the Santa Barbara community, people were jolted into action. The fragility of our land—and the urgent need to rethink how we live on it—became undeniable.

A Simple, Ancient Solution

In the aftermath, amid ash-covered hills, blackened trees, and destroyed neighborhoods many sought answers. Controlled burns? Sure. Herbicides? Expensive, toxic, and short-sighted. What emerged was an ancient solution, often overlooked in the complexity of our modern minds: grazing four-legged animals.

Goats and sheep, with their different grazing habits, are nature’s land managers. Brittany, our local shepherdess, saw their potential not just for fuel reduction but for ecological restoration. Her method, “targeted grazing,” didn’t just eat away at the problem of overgrowth; it fertilized the soil, improved biodiversity, and began a quiet revolution in fire resilience.

Why We Must Rethink Ecology

Here’s the stark truth: California’s landscapes are changing. With climate variability escalating, the Mediterranean ecosystem that once thrived here is on a knife’s edge. With unusually wet years leading to overgrowth of brush and non-native species choking native plants, the ecosystem is creating the perfect storm of flashy fuels. Add to that the continued use of chemical sprays like glyphosate, which weaken soil microbes and it’s no wonder we’re in trouble.

Yet, when we integrate animals into the equation, a new balance emerges. This simple regenerative approach asks not how we can dominate the land but how we can work with it.

Lessons from Ojai

The results in Ojai are still unfolding, but the early indicators are promising. Brittany’s grazing program has created firebreaks that don’t just protect—they heal. Rather than a ring of fire, as Johnny Cash once sang about his unfortunate accidental burn in Ojai, we have a ring of fire protection around the small town. Brittany’s work reminds us that resilience isn’t about fortifying against nature but collaborating with it.

This collaboration is the heart of regeneration, and it is where our hope lies—not in quick fixes or high-tech solutions but in the simple, time-tested partnerships between humans, animals, plants and the earth.

A Call to Regeneration

Regeneration isn’t just about land. It’s about us. It’s about shifting how we live, grow, and sustain ourselves. It’s about looking at every burned hillside and asking: What can we learn and what is the land trying to tell us?

We have tools—ancient ones like grazing and modern ones like community organizing. The question is: Will we use them? Or will we wait for the next fire, the next flood, the next disaster, to force our hand?

Let’s not wait. Let’s act. Support local regenerative farmers, ranchers, and indigenous tribes who carry the knowledge of land healing. Advocate for policies that promote land stewardship. And yes, consider how something as simple as a flock of goats and a shepherdess might just be the kind of heroes we need in this age of uncertainty.

Together, we can rebuild what’s been lost—not just in California, but across the landscapes of the planet. One step, one pasture, one action – and sometimes – one goat at a time.