Endangered species hit hard by historic Arizona fire – ‘The forest will be very changed, very, very different’
By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
24 June 2011 PHOENIX – The largest wildfire in Arizona history left a charred landscape of blackened forest, burned-out vehicle hulks and charred fireplaces as it destroyed more than 30 homes. It also inflicted a serious toll on an ecosystem that’s home to numerous endangered species. The flames spared three packs of endangered Mexican gray wolves but likely killed at least some threatened Mexican spotted owls as it roared through more than a half-million acres of a pristine forest on the New Mexico border. Though some spots were untouched or had only undergrowth burn, the effect of the human-caused Wallow fire will last for decades because it burned so hot in many areas that it completely denuded the landscape, forest specialists said. “The natural fires are good for a healthy forest, but these fires — where the debris has been allowed to build up and it just hasn’t been addressed — they come out very hot and just scorch everything. As soon as the monsoon shows up, there’s a potential for a lot of soil to move,” said Tom Buckley, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman. […] The spotted owls are another matter. Crown fires in overgrown forests have become the greatest cause of unusual losses for the birds, and 73 protected nesting areas were burned in the fire, said Beth Humphrey, Apache-Sitgreaves biologist. There are 145 protested nest sites in the entire 2.1 million acres forest. Any nestlings or eggs caught in the fire were surely lost, although mortality among adults was likely limited, Humphrey said. […] The burned forest supports more than a dozen other endangered or threatened species, including snails, frogs and fish. Dozens of other species live in the forest that aren’t rare, including bear, deer, antelope and a herd of elk that, at about 6,000, is among the state’s biggest. Only two dead elk have been found, Paxon said. A yearling calf had to be euthanized because its hooves were badly burned. “These ungulates, the elk and the deer and the antelope, they’re a whole lot smarter than people are when it comes to evacuations,” Paxon said. […] The next round of damage will come once summer rains hit. The National Weather Service is warning of major flash floods and debris flows even with a 15-minute-long moderate downpour. […] The flooding from the Wallow will kill fish, since it will carry major flows of ash and sediment and clog streams. Decades-long efforts to restore endangered Apache and Gila trout to the streams that flow from the mountain will be hurt. Already, plans are being made to pull pure Apache trout from streams where it is expected they will die, to preserve the lineage, said Julie Meka Carter, native trout conservation coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. They could be put in other streams or placed in hatcheries for as long as three years, until the ash and sediment flows subside. “The forest will be very changed, very, very different,” said Apache-Sitgreaves forest supervisor Chris Knopp.
