Three years after a wildfire burned 97% of California's Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the forest — or at least several parts of it — is making a remarkable resurgence.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on the new developments in the park, citing researchers who spoke at a scientific symposium hosted by environmental nonprofit Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council.
"Coast redwoods are just supremely fire-adapted, and were well-prepared for this fire event, and they seem to be recovering, at least so far," the Sentinel quoted biologist Drew Peltier, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. After the wildfire, Peltier and his team installed cameras throughout the old-growth forest, which they have been using to document the changes.
"What we saw was pretty remarkable," he said.
Showing the photos immediately after the fire, Peltier said: "All these trees are brown; they have no green foliage. And two years later, they are fully leafed out. I pulled the image from today and I almost didn't recognize it. The trees are so bushy now."
A certain amount of burning is beneficial for forests like this. The Western Fire Chiefs Association describes wildfires as "nature's way of regenerating the earth, allowing important nutrients to re-enter the soil, and creating new habitats for plants and animals to thrive."
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However, the WFCA clarifies that when there are too many fires in one season, or when those fires burn too long, the real damage is done.
In Big Basin, the bird and fish populations are struggling to bounce back as quickly as the trees — but researchers are optimistic that the ecosystem will return to a healthy state, especially given the tree growth. And considering that many of these redwoods are over 1,500 years old, according to the Sentinel, that's something to be grateful for.
"Ecologically the park is doing just fine," said Jon Keeley, a senior scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey and biology professor at UCLA, per the Sentinel. "The forest is coming back the way it is adapted to. About 90% of the redwood trees are resprouting."
Rising global temperatures are making the conditions for wildfires even more favorable, and events are increasingly occurring in areas not typically known for them. While this is troubling because of the reduction in air quality, threat to life, and economic damage wildfires cause, it is at least heartening to see one affected area rebound so quickly.
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