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Terms and Conditions
Introduction
Welcome to TONGUES, provided by Voodoo Voodoo Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”). Access to and use of this website (“TONGUES”) is provided by us on the basis of a number of important terms and conditions, which are set out in full below.
You should carefully read these terms and conditions (“terms”). When you use TONGUES, you will be legally bound by these terms, which will take effect from your first use of TONGUES. If you do not agree to be legally bound by these terms, then you should not use TONGUES>.
These terms apply generally to the use of TONGUES. Any facility (“Comment Facility”) that we may make accessible to you through TONGUES, enabling you to post messages, comments, information, material or content (a “Contribution”), may have additional special terms attached. If and when a Comment Facility becomes available, you will need to read and agree to be legally bound by those special terms before you post a Contribution or use those sections. If you do not agree to be legally bound by those special terms then you will not be able to post a Contribution.
TONGUES is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in a country where that distribution or use would be contrary to local laws or regulations.
Changes to Terms
We are continually seeking to update and improve TONGUES. As a result, we may make changes to TONGUES, including these terms, at any time. You will need to review these terms regularly so that you are aware of any changes we have made. You will be legally bound by the updated or amended terms from the first time that you use TONGUES after we post the changes on-line.
TONGUES Content
The rights in materials, images, information, data, trade marks, trade names and logos and other content included on TONGUES (“TONGUES content”) are are owned by us or the relevant third party content owner. All rights are reserved and acknowledged. As TONGUES content is protected by a variety of third party rights, you may not copy, adapt, re-publish, make available to the public or print off copies of TONGUES content in any way, or use it other than as part of TONGUES and for your personal non-commercial use, without our prior written permission.
Information
Information which we provide through TONGUES is in outline for information or entertainment purposes only. You should not rely on it.
Third party websites
We do not monitor the content of third party websites and any link provided on TONGUES is solely for your convenience. We cannot therefore accept any responsibility for any third party website. You are responsible for checking and complying with the terms and privacy policies applicable to your use of any third party website.
Responsibility
The extent of our responsibility to you has been determined in the context of the following:
access to TONGUES is provided to you free of charge;
it is your responsibility to determine the suitability of any TONGUES content for any particular purpose to which you wish to put it;
TONGUES does not give instructions and you are responsible for any action or decision you take or do not take as a result of TONGUES content;
It is your responsibility to ensure that your equipment is enabled with appropriate up-to-date virus checking software before you access or use TONGUES.
Whilst we will endeavour to ensure that TONGUES is available to you and that content for which we are responsible is accurate, we cannot make any legal commitment or representation to you that TONGUES will be available at any particular time or that it or any TONGUES content will be of any particular quality or fit for any particular purpose. However, we will exercise reasonable skill and care in providing any service to you.
We can accept no liability to you for any of the following types of loss (should you suffer any of them as a result of your use of TONGUES):
loss which was not foreseeable to you and us when you first accessed or registered to use TONGUES (even if that loss results from the our failure to comply with these terms or our negligence);
any business loss you may suffer, including loss of revenue, profits or anticipated savings (whether those losses are the direct or indirect result of our default);
loss which you suffer other than as a result of our failure to comply with these terms or our negligence or breach of statutory duty;
any loss suffered due to the default of any party other than us.
We do not give any commitment that TONGUES or any TONGUES content will be available uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that TONGUES or its supporting systems are free of viruses or bugs.
We can accept no liability to you if we fail, or are interrupted or delayed in the performance of any obligation because of:
the non-availability or failure of any telecommunications or computer services, systems, equipment or software operated or provided by you or any third party;
any other event not reasonably within our control.
We do not give any commitments or accept any liability to you in respect of TONGUES content provided by other users of the website or third parties other than us.
Nothing in these terms will limit our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence.
Remedies
To the extent that we are practically able to do so, we may terminate your access to any part of TONGUES at any time without notice if you breach any of the terms.
General
If any of these terms are determined to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable then the remaining terms shall remain in full force and effect.
These terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. If you are a consumer, then you may have rights to bring court proceedings in the courts of the country in which you are domiciled. Otherwise, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you and we shall bring all court proceedings in the courts of England and Wales.
© TONGUES — An initiative by Voodoo Voodoo Ltd

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Privacy & Cookies Policy
Introduction
The tongues.cc website is operated by Voodoo Voodoo Ltd (‘TONGUES’).
This privacy policy applies to TONGUES.
We want you to enjoy our website and services secure in the knowledge that we have implemented fair information practices to protect your privacy. By visiting our website, you are accepting the practices described in our privacy policy, including our use of cookies and similar online tracking technologies. If you do not agree to the terms of this privacy policy, please do not use the website.
TONGUES may change this policy from time to time by updating this page and you should regularly check to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy was last updated on 11 February 2020.
The policy outlines:
1. General principle
2. How we collect information
3. Types of information we may collect
4. How we use your information
5. How we protect the information we collect
6. Access to your personal information
7. How to contact us
1. General principle
There are two types of information we may collect from you when you use the website: non-personally identifiable information and personally identifiable information. Non-personally identifiable information does not individually identify you, but it may include tracking and usage information about your general location, demographics, use of the website and the internet. Personally identifiable information is information that you voluntarily provide when you set up a user account, subscribe to a newsletter, or query that can individually identify you and may include your name and email address etc.
We do not link non-personally identifiable information to your personally identifiable information.
We do not share either type of information unless required to run the website and services (see third-party services below). We will never sell either type of information.
This privacy policy does not apply to any information collected outside of the website, including offline or through other means (for example, via telephone or through email), unless otherwise stated below or at the time of collection.
2. How we collect information
We collect information when you:
— Ask to be placed on an email newsletter list
Make an enquiry about our services
— Answer a reader survey
— Provide information to us
Links to other websites, social media platforms
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our website, you should note that we do not have any control over the information that is collected and shared about you. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
You may interact with content on our website through social media platforms we use such as Facebook by using their social features. Examples of social features include ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ our content. We encourage you to review their policies before using their tools, which can be found at their respective websites. If you’d prefer that these social media platforms do not collect information about the content you share and use, we suggest that you don’t use their tools.
3. Types of information we may collect
The types of information we may collect includes:
— Account information (email address)
— Information you provide through a TONGUES reader survey which might include age range, education level etc
TONGUES is not responsible for any information you have provided in public areas of our website or on our social media platforms, which may then be viewed by other users.
4. How we use your information
The information we collect may be used to help us:
— Provide services you voluntarily subscribed to such as email newsletters
— Improve the quality of our website
— Promote services to you including advising you of updates or changes to our website and services
— Improve the website through reader surveys and feedback
Disclosure to third-party services
As part of providing our website and services to you we use a limited number of third-party services that perform functions on our behalf, including but not limited to website hosting, server monitoring, tracking user behaviour, marketing automation services, and customer service.
We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the conduct, practices or privacy policies of these third-party services and encourage you to read the policies of the services we use below:
TONGUES uses the MailerLite marketing automation service to issue newsletters. Find out more about MailerLite’s Privacy Policy and Terms.
When you subscribe to our email newsletters
By clicking ‘Subscribe’ you agree to the following: 
We will use the email address you provide to send you a weekly or monthly email. We also send occasional updates and, no more than once a year, reader surveys. 
The email address/es you provide will be transferred to our external marketing automation service ‘MailerLite’ for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms. We use MailerLite to issue our newsletters. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the conduct, practices or privacy policies of MailerLite
Unsubscribing
You can change your mind at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe link’ in the footer of emails you receive from us, or by contacting us at [email protected]. If you want to review and correct the personal information we have about you, you can click on ‘update preferences’ in the footer of emails you receive from us, or by contacting us at [email protected].
5. How we protect the information we collect
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. We have taken reasonable measures to protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse or unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. No physical or electronic security system is impenetrable however and you should take your own precautions to protect the security of any personally identifiable information you transmit. We cannot guarantee that the personal information you supply will not be intercepted while transmitted to us or third-party service providers. 
Sharing your personal information
We will not disclose your personal information except; (1) as described by this Privacy Policy (2) after obtaining your permission to a specific use or disclosure or (3) if we are required do so by a valid legal process or government request (such as a court order, a search warrant, a subpoena, a civil discovery request, or a statutory requirement). We will retain your information for as long as needed in light of the purposes for which it was obtained or to comply with our legal obligations and enforce our agreements. 
Data transfer
This website is published in the United Kingdom. If you are located in a country outside of these countries and voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us, you should be aware that information about you will be transferred to this countries. We attempt to comply with local data protection laws to the extent that they may apply to TONGUES. 
Age of consent
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 18 and we do not knowingly collect or maintain information from those we know are younger than 18. If you are younger than 18, you should not submit or post any personally identifiable information to our website. By using the Service, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age.
6. Access to your personal information
You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you by submitting a written request to [email protected]. We may only implement requests with respect to the personal information associated with the particular email address you use to send us the request. We will try and respond to your request as soon as reasonably practical. When you receive the information, if you think any of it is wrong or out of date, you can ask us to change or delete it for you. 
We take all reasonable steps to ensure the information held is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading. 
7. Contact us
If you have any questions about our privacy policy or our use of your information, please contact us at [email protected].

Emily Schlickman & Brett Milligan

April 29 / 2024

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California has never had a more fraught — and, at times, frightening — relationship with fire. As the climate crisis accelerates and we contend with the combustible legacy of decadeslong fire suppression, how this relationship will play out is far from certain. ‘Pyro Futures‘ — a fascinating exhibition currently at the Manetti Shrem Museum (in Davis) and online — invites Californians to consider what their shared future with fire might involve, and to imagine what their potential roles might be in shaping that future. The exhibition acknowledges that while fire can, of course, be incredibly destructive, the careful stewardship of fire can actually make landscapes healthier and more resilient.

‘Pyro Futures’ is curated by two landscape architecture academics based at the University of California, Davis — Emily Schlickman and Brett Milligan. They’re also the co-authors of ‘Design by Fire’, which explores our past and current relationships with fire through richly researched case studies from around the world. Rather than serving as a book of neatly packaged solutions, their book showcases techniques to be considered, tested, and evaluated in a time of fire.

 

Q >What ignited (sorry!) your interest in fire — and how did this lead to your book on the subject?

A >Like many others living in Northern California over the past ten years, we have lived through a number of extreme wildfire events, including the LNU Lightning Complex which came within 15 miles of Davis and enveloped the region in toxic smoke for several weeks. These experiences (and also seeing how fire and fire risks are changing around the world) inspired us to think about ways in which designers and planners could address wildfire adaptation more holistically. 

Q >Over the course of your research for the ‘Design by Fire’, what’s the most surprising thing you encountered?

A >Just how complex, variable, and transformative fire can be. In our book we define fire as a contextual, time-based event. How fire behaves, what it does, and what it leaves behind is all based on the landscape conditions in which it emerges. 

Q >And the most encouraging thing?

A >That so many fire-prone communities around the world are being proactive when it comes to managing landscapes in the face of increasing wildfire threats. People are changing how they think about and relate to fire. In particular, it was hopeful to learn more about the work of cultural burners around the world who are stewarding with fire to promote cultural practices and bolster habitat, while reducing wildfire risk. 

Q >What ended up scaring you the most?

A >In many parts of the world, we are trying to undo and counter the detrimental legacies of fire suppression while also dealing with the challenges of accelerating change in climate and landscapes. The aggregation of these factors presents many challenges and many unknowns about what the future will be like. Another issue is that at some of the highest levels of policy and governance, there are still those who believe that fire suppression is an effective management strategy.  As many in fire stewardship say, it’s easier to put out a fire than it is to start one

Q >‘Design by Fire’ is dedicated to fire stewards. How would you define the concept of a fire steward — or the fire stewardship they carry out?

A >Those who embrace and actively work with fire to care for landscapes and all that lives within them.

Q >Native tribes have lived with and used fire since time immemorial. With that in mind, can you tease out the connection between indigenous sovereignty and fire?

A >Many problems we have with fire today are a direct result of colonial missteps and the subjugation of indigenous people. In California, for example, indigenous burning practices were, by and large, forcibly stopped by settlers. Restoring indigenous sovereignty includes restoring indigenous rights to burn, which in turn can foster eco-cultural restoration.

 

An indigenous-led prescribed fire on a private ranch in Cobb, California to increase ecosystem health, support eco-cultural restoration, maintain awareness of cultural sites, and provide training opportunities.

 

Q >Tell us, in brief, about the differences between:  ‘Good Fire’ and ‘Bad Fire’ / Prescribed vs Cultural Burns

A >Fire is an incredibly complex phenomenon but categorisation can be a helpful communication tool. For us, ‘good fire’ is intentionally set (or allowed to burn) for beneficial reasons. It includes prescribed burning which focuses on fuel reduction and forest health, cultural burning which supports culturally-important customs and species, and wildland fire use which allows certain wildfires to safely burn the landscape. ‘Bad fire’, on the other hand, is often severe and unexpected, negatively impacting lives, property and key ecological processes. It is often due to past mismanagement or problematic land uses. 

Q >‘Design by Fire’ points out that the amount of burning happening in California (both cultural and prescribed) is far short of what’s required. What can be done to ramp this up, particularly in a time of budgetary constraints at the state level?

A >We think there is much opportunity for creative investment and strategic planning in this domain, ranging across state and federal initiatives and funding mechanisms to continue on-the-ground experimentation. While the future is uncertain, a range of techniques and protocols could be engaged to expand cooperative land ownership and stewardship models, reduce cumbersome policy, permitting requirements and liability concerns, increase access to ancestral homelands, and develop new modes of education and outreach.

Q >You both are members of burn crews. How did you get involved? What has it been like? And has this firsthand experience shifted your perceptions and understanding of fire in any way(s)?

A >Collectively, we’ve burned with a local prescribed burn association, an indigenous-led eco-cultural fire crew, a collaborative multi-institutional educational burn in collaboration with CalFire, and staff at a UC reserve. These experiences have taught us the value of actual, hands-on experience with fire (rather than just an abstraction), and with people from different backgrounds and training. With each burn, we’ve actively learned from fire, tangibly seeing its specific effects on different landscapes.

Q >Your book shares examples of three strategies of dealing with fire: resistance, co-creation and retreat. Is there one “better” than another? What should determine which approach gets used in any given scenario?

A >In reality, our future will involve all three. And in truth, all three approaches are co-creative, but in very different ways. Co-creation, as we define it in the book, is the middle ground between resistance and retreat where we actively and creatively work directly with fire in a give and take relationship, as humans typically did throughout our history.

Q >Your efforts to raise awareness about the need for ‘good’ fire and the downsides of fire suppression have included (amazing!) postcards, and a billboard featuring an adorable mascot, Burnie the Bobcat. Tell us more about the message you’re trying to get to the general public, and the tools you’re using? (Also, how soon can we buy Burnie t-shirts?!)

A >Our message is twofold: 1. Not all fire is bad. And 2. All of us can help decide our future with fire. We’re trying to communicate this in a range of ways to reach as many people as possible (including forthcoming Burnie gear!).

 

Sample from the set of postcards from the ‘Pyro Futures’ Exhibition (Manetti Shrem Art Museum, Spring 2024)

 

Pyro Futures is being showcased at the University of California Davis’s Manetti Shrem Museum until June 16, 2024. ‘Design by Fire was published by Routledge in 2023.
Emily Schlickman is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of California, Davis whose research explores design techniques for accelerated climate change. Schlickman received a BA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MLA from Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Brett Milligan is a landscape architect and Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of California, Davis. There he is the director of the Metamorphic Landscapes Lab, dedicated to prototyping landscape-based adaptations to conditions of accelerated climatic and environmental change, through extensive fieldwork and transdisciplinary design research. Much of his work is based in California, undoing and reworking colonial legacies of land reclamation, water infrastructure, flood control, and fire suppression. He is a co-founder of the Dredge Research Collaborative, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to exploring the human alteration and design of sedimentary landscapes, and co-author of the book ‘Silt Sand Slurry: Dredging, Sediment, and the Worlds We Are Making’.
All images by authors, Emily and Brett.

Sample from the set of postcards from the 'Pyro Futures' Exhibition (Manetti Shrem Art Museum, Spring 2024)

Prescribed burn of grassland and oak woodland south of Clear Lake at the UC McLaughlin reserve. This burn was timed to reduce the presence of invasive plants and combined with post burn active seeding and restoration of native plant communities to improve ecological value and reduce fire risk.

Post LNU Complex wildfire of grassland and Oak woodland, UC MacLaughlin reserve

Intentional burning an oak savanna at Middletown Rancheria, California to build relationships with local tribes, support cultural resources, and improve the quality of traditional gathering areas.

High severity wildfire of Oak woodland within the LNU Complex Fire, central California. Oak woodland and chaparral habitats may increasingly convert to non-native grassland if they burn too frequently (due to climate change or accidental human ignitions) or burn too intensely.

Sample from the set of postcards from the 'Pyro Futures' Exhibition (Manetti Shrem Art Museum, Spring 2024)

Sample from the set of postcards from the 'Pyro Futures' Exhibition (Manetti Shrem Art Museum, Spring 2024)

Sample from the set of postcards from the 'Pyro Futures' Exhibition (Manetti Shrem Art Museum, Spring 2024)