Fire can be Regenerative and restore the planet.

Regenerative Fire can hydrate landscapes, prevent catastrophic fire risk, and heal soil.

Milton Carrillo

Milton Carrillo is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, firefighter, entrepreneur, and founder of Firekeeper Alliance.

He brings together frontline emergency response, structural and wildland fire experience, and business leadership into a grounded, systems-based approach to regenerative fire stewardship. Having worked in high-risk, high-responsibility environments from maritime emergency operations to wildfire response, Milton developed a deep respect for discipline, risk management, and the intentional use of powerful forces in service of life and safety.

Witnessing firsthand the limits of reactive fire suppression and the consequences of fuel overload and ecosystem imbalance shaped his commitment to proactive, regenerative fire as a tool for healing landscapes, reducing wildfire risk, and restoring ecological resilience.

Milton believes that fire, when guided by knowledge, humility, and care, is not a destructive force but a regenerative one.

Lyza Johnsen

Lyza Johnson is a land steward and operations professional with nearly a decade of experience in land management, infrastructure stewardship, and fire-informed landscape care. She is known for stepping confidently into complex, hands-on environments and bringing order, safety, and functionality to systems that are often messy, evolving, and operationally demanding.

Lyza previously worked for nine years at UC Santa Barbara’s Sedgwick Reserve, where she served as Land Steward and Director of Operations. In that role, she managed land, facilities, and infrastructure while supporting the day-to-day functioning of a large and dynamic reserve system. Her work required both technical skill and adaptability, as well as the ability to navigate nuanced working relationships with utilities and service providers.

She also has extensive experience as a firefighter, including the use of prescribed fire as a tool for land management. In addition, she is an expert sawyer with advanced chainsaw skills and regularly supports and mentors others in developing their own technical capacity in the field.​

Alice Lincoln Cook

Alice Lincoln Cook (Karuk) draws on a lifetime of working as an independent artist, traditional basketweaver, culture bearer, and cultural fire expert: she is passionate about teaching the practices she grew up with to help others manage ancestral lands and waters in a good way, that is healthy for our people and our culture.

Prior to serving as President and Board Member with the California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA) for eight terms where she coordinated multiple basketweaving conferences and outreach events, Alice taught basketweaving to California Native Tribal members, and worked with local schools, nonprofits, and state and federal agencies throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Alice was instrumental in reviving CIBA's Following the Smoke program, an inter-agency training retreat that brought hundreds of Tribal practitioners and affiliates together to connect good fire with traditional land management practices.

Since obtaining her Basic 32 Red Card firefighting certification, Alice has become a highly sought-after speaker at universities, conferences, and Basic 32 fire training programs both in California and nationally.