Page 65 - The Silver Fire

THE BLACK RANGE RAG - WWW.BLACKRANGE.ORG
Since Then
Photographs and opinions which did not appear in the Black Range Rag.
The Chances of Flood Are Greater Now
This year, as I have walked the slopes of the Black Range, I could not help but notice that they are in bad shape.
Following the fire, grass seed was dropped onto the slopes and last year the slopes were often covered with heavy grass. Small trees and shrubs were growing back, recovery was well along, things looked good.
This year the story is different, the slope, in the photo above, is heavily vegetated from a Black Range perspective.
Cattle are grazing everything in sight, all of the fencing is burned and none is been replaced. The ground is quickly becoming bare.
Thus far the ground has not become saturated. If the monsoons arrive, however, they will become soaked, unable to absorb more water. And
then the run off will start and there will not be anything to hold it back.
Rather than be complacent because there were no floods last year we had better fill the sand bags and hope for the best, because hope is all we have now.
The Trees Came Through Better Than Expected
It is possible to hike in the Black Range and not know a fire happened, at least for a little while. Instead of the Range being completely scorched it tended to burn in spots and sections, leaving other areas relatively unscathed. By far the worse slope that I have seen is the east slope of Drummond Canyon. A long slope (pictured at the top of this page) which drains directly into South Percha - part of Hillsboro’s watershed.
In some areas the Aspens are absolutely beautiful, in other areas they were hit pretty hard. But Aspen groves are typically clones of one individual and are connected with vast root systems. When a section of an Aspen grove burns it is more like an amputation than death.
The Flowers Have Loved It
The Flowers have been great since the fire, species rarely seen are more visible, the slopes are covered for a bit with color - to die away and leave bare earth.
The ladybugs have returned to Sawyers Peak and life is good. If we can just keep most of the water up there and out of our houses.
Most of the trails are in reasonable shape, although detours around wash-outs are still required in places.
iN MEMORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS
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