In the 20th Century, the traditional use of fire by tribal people was largely eliminated (with disastrous consequences). Tribal land managers and others are now working to restore fire to the land and better manage forest ecosystems. In this section, learn about the political history behind the twists and turns in this chapter of fire history — the allotment act and the disempowerment of tribes just after the turn of the century, the ascendancy of fire suppression and commodity timber production as policy, the Indian Reorganization Act and gradual rebuilding of tribal sovereignty, and the modern development of tribal nations that incorporate both modern technical know-how and traditional cultural values.