We Barely Know What's Been Lost From The Fire On Santa Rosa Island

When I saw nan headlines that flames were ravaging Santa Rosa Island, sadness washed complete me.

Many of nan news stories highlighted nan threat to nan unsocial plants and animals inhabiting nan land disconnected nan seashore of Santa Barbara, from plucky, pint-sized foxes to nan rarest conifer trees successful North America.

To me, nan nonaccomplishment wasn’t theoretical. I saw these and galore different otherworldly type while connected a life-changing backpacking travel to nan land 5 years ago, which I chronicled for this newspaper. Looking astatine nan occurrence map, I could spot overmuch of nan way I charted was now seared.

That includes my first wilderness campsite adjacent Ford Point, wherever a several-thousand-pound elephant seal roused maine from slumber pinch its jarring bark. It wasn’t pleasant moving a shelter aft hiking for 10 hours, but seeing nan behemoth (and his mate) successful nan gauzy greeting ray made it worthy it.

The occurrence besides passed done a grove of critically endangered Torrey pines, which I had hiked up to and gazed down connected nan island’s crystal bluish water. It burned done Water Canyon Campground, wherever I spent my last nighttime successful comparative comfortableness aft roughing it successful nan backcountry. Beyond nan sights, nan travel brought maine person to my husband, who had transformed into a bona fide outdoorsman during nan pandemic.

Crystal clear waters of Santa Rosa Island.

(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)

Now fearfulness clouds nan memories: Does nan rugged, magical spot of my mind’s oculus still exist? As The Times’ wildlife and outdoors reporter, I felt contiguous interest for nan island’s critters and plants. I was a visitor, but this is their home. Would it still beryllium hospitable?

Among nan bully news is that nan occurrence is now afloat contained, aft igniting 3 weeks ago. But earlier it was vanquished, nan blaze chewed done astir a 3rd of nan island, 1 of 5 that comprise Channel Islands National Park. While nan origin remains nether investigation, nan U.S. Coast Guard initially reported a shipwrecked sailor whitethorn person sparked nan blaze aft firing flares for help. Coast Guard images showed nan 67-year-old man had carved “SOS” into what looked for illustration charred crushed earlier being rescued by helicopter.

The Channel Islands, an archipelago that includes 3 further islands extracurricular nan park, are nicknamed nan “Galapagos of North America” for nan plants and animals recovered only there. Fires of specified magnitude are uncommon connected Santa Rosa truthful its inhabitants haven’t evolved pinch them.

Speaking to occurrence officials and scientists, nan prevailing sentiment is there’s overmuch we don’t cognize astir nan fire’s effect and really agelong betterment will return — aliases if it will ever moreover look nan same. Starting Friday, specialists will statesman assessing wherever everything stands. Until then, researchers tin return knowledgeable guesses.

“There will beryllium winners and losers for sure,” said Heather Schneider, head of conservation astatine nan Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, whose activity includes studying and protecting uncommon plants connected nan island.

Take nan Hoffmann’s slender-flowered gilia, a federally endangered wildflower recovered only connected nan land and overmuch of it wrong nan area that burned. It’s imaginable nan blaze incinerated nan dainty purple-and-white flowers earlier they could driblet seeds this year. But Schneider and her colleagues judge there’s astir apt a patient postulation of seeds successful nan ungraded from erstwhile years that hasn’t germinated yet that could thief it retrieve erstwhile conditions are right.

Some glimmers of dream person emerged from what we do know. It’s believed nan island’s Torrey pines are mostly intact and overmuch of nan campground survived. The pinnipeds that collapsed my first nighttime connected nan land were astir apt not affected much. Certain areas I visited, for illustration nan historical South Point Light Station, were spared.

Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology for nan Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who has researched nan island’s reptiles and amphibians for 14 years, highlighted that nan web of life is interconnected — and definite effects whitethorn play retired complete time.

“It’s benignant of a one-two punch,” he said. “You’ve sewage to past nan fire, and past you’ve sewage to beryllium capable to fig retired really to make a surviving successful a scenery that looks very different than it did a week ago.”

In galore parts of nan island, nan soil’s precocious clay contented causes heavy fractures to shape arsenic it dries. He expects galore animals, for illustration nan gopher snake, made it done nan occurrence by hunkering down successful nan cracks.

When nan snake emerges, it should find capable mice to chow down on. But a deficiency of seeds and different nutrient for mice mightiness mean that prey dwindles complete time.

He worries astir different ripple effects, too.

Non-native grasses that person taken clasp “create a carpet of highly flammable worldly for overmuch of nan year,” he said. In nan aftermath of fire, specified grasses often outpouring up quickly and shadiness retired autochthonal plants. He expects nan acreage to increase.

That’s bad news for nan mostly of wildlife connected nan land that relies connected autochthonal habitat, for illustration woody shrubs.

Yet, arsenic Pauly put it, nan land is nary alien to flux. Just within nan past 2 centuries, cattle and sheep brought successful for ranching — and past later elk and cervid for hunting — ate up nan island’s shrubs, he said. Since 2011, he added, nan island’s been free of these non-native grazers and autochthonal vegetation has rebounded.

He expects moreover much change. Scientists are clocking an summation successful somesthesia and flimsy alteration successful fog. He besides predicts fires will go much communal arsenic much group visit.

Emanuel Röhss, nan author’s husband, sits amid fog during a backpacking travel to nan land 5 years ago.

(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)

While harrowing, I besides recovered a unusual comfortableness successful Pauly’s words. Change is inevitable, whether bad aliases good. My memories of nan land are of a snapshot successful time. I went during nan tallness of nan pandemic, erstwhile my boatmates were masked and socially distanced. All nan wonderment I knowledgeable notwithstanding, I wouldn’t want that facet of nan travel to transportation on.

And alteration doesn’t request to beryllium taken lying down. Some are already gearing up to get nan land backmost connected track.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has seeds for each of nan uncommon plants successful nan pain area, a benignant of neglect safe if they request thief recovering. Additionally, conscionable this March, it opened a conservation grove of Torrey pines grown from seeds collected connected Santa Rosa. The Channel Islands National Park Foundation is connected manus to raise money for nan park.

“It’s going to beryllium an each hands connected platform business to understand, measure and scheme nan recovery,” nan garden’s Schneider said.

If I spell backmost to Santa Rosa, I dream to clasp it arsenic it is: transformed.