Nature, humans set to work in fire-ravaged So. California state park

[pmbryant]

From the Los Angeles Times: Jan 8 2004

In Ashes, Sprouts of Hope
Nature -- and humans -- set to work in fire-ravaged Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. But the place may never be completely healed.

By James Ricci
Times Staff Writer
January 8, 2004

CUYAMACA, Calif. — Bob Hillis and Matt Green knew they were near their destination when a flock of crows lifted noisily from the blackened earth in the distance. Green stopped the truck on the rutted dirt road and the two park rangers made their way on foot across the pillowy ash blanketing the West Mesa area of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

As they approached a dry stream bed, they found what they were looking for.

Spread over about 20 acres, the carcasses of 70 deer lay in anguished poses. They had been picked mostly clean, save for patches of hide that had been burned to suede. The bright red of violated innards peeked through exposed ribs. Threads of pink flesh littered the surrounding ash, which was hieroglyphed with the footprints of crows.

On Oct. 28 when the great Cedar wildfire struck the park, the deer, along with five bobcats, a gray fox and a wild turkey, were surrounded by flames on West Mesa and perished when the blaze roared in on them.

(snip)

Cuyamaca Rancho park is closed. The Cedar fire burned it almost completely, sparing only about 300 of its 24,681 acres of mature forest and mountain meadow. Officials say no state park in California has ever been so thoroughly ravaged by fire.

The park, 40 miles east of San Diego, logs about 600,000 campers, hikers and horseback riders a year. But visitors won't be allowed back in until June, at the earliest. No one died as the fire rampaged through the park, but falling timber, obliterated trails and hidden sinkholes left by large trees that burned to the roots make Cuyamaca a dangerous place.

Hillis, Green and a battalion of other park officials and scientists have been prowling the park, trying to comprehend the extent and meaning of the destruction so they can plot a strategy for helping the place heal naturally and for preventing future calamities.

(snip)

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parkfire8jan08,1,182906.story?coll=la-headlines-california

[MikeH]

1. I Have Hiked There Many Times

I have been on many hikes in the Cuyamacas, both by myself and with the Sierra Club. In fact I was on a hike in the West Mesa area of the Cuyamacas with the Sierra Club the day before the fires. Scary.

[SHRED]

2. Me too.

I live in Encinitas and work for the City of Poway.

We are putting in erosion control measures but that fire was so hot that the hills here are powderized. If we get a 1-2" size rain then all we are doing now is for exercise. There is just too much loose soil waiting to be washed off these hills.
Truly sad.

I heard the perpetrator was released with a small fine. Now that is a crime in itself!!