An
unrelenting wildfire has
swallowed nearly a third of
Santa Rosa Island, a small
strip of land off the coast
of California that is
largely uninhabited by
people but abundant with
wildlife and plants,
including several found
nowhere else on Earth.
The
blaze, which started last
Friday, is human-caused but
its exact origin is still
under investigation,
according to the National
Park Service, which manages
the island as part of the
Channel Islands National
Park. However, news
outlets
report the original ignition
was likely due to a flare
set off by a stranded
sailor, who spelled out an
“SOS” on the ground amid the
burnt vegetation. The sailor
was saved, but the inferno
has torn through more than
16,000 acres—the biggest
fire in California so far
this year.
Officials
ferried in dozens of
firefighters to combat the
flames, but strong winds and
the island’s remote and
rugged landscape have made
it difficult. As of Tuesday
morning, the fire was 0
percent contained and had
passed directly through the
island’s stronghold of
Torrey pine trees, which
only grow naturally there
and in northern San Diego.
Additional
firefighters arrived at the
island today, but some
resources won’t get there
until midweek, according to
a federal
fire report.
As
the Santa Rosa Island fire
continues to burn,
scientists, conservation
groups and the former
superintendent of the park
fear the long-term impacts
it could have on the
ecosystem and the sensitive
species it supports.
‘Galapagos
of California’ Up in
Flames
Santa
Rosa is one of the five
islands that make up Channel
Islands National Park,
described as the “Galapagos
of North America” due to the
trove of native species that
exist only there. This
includes the island fox,
island spotted skunk and
plants such as the bright
red island monkeyflower or
the Dudleya gnoma succulent
(adorably nicknamed the
“munchkin liveforever”).
The
archipelago is also an
archaeological hub, with
culturally important sites
for the Chumash people who
once lived there and fossils
from long-extinct animals
such as pygmy
mammoths and ancient
sea cows scattered
throughout. Some of North
America’s oldest human
remains were also discovered
on the island, dating
back 13,000 years.
“The
islands are refugia for
species that used to exist
elsewhere and got sort of
sequestered off onto these
tiny little time capsules,
essentially, or they evolved
on the island, and that is
what makes them so
biodiverse and different
from the species that we’d
be seeing mainland,” Lauren
Harris, an ecologist for the
nonprofit Channel Islands
Restoration, told me.
However, the islands’
uniqueness is also part of
what makes them particularly
vulnerable to environmental
stressors, she added.
“Having
that combination of dry
grasses, the summer heat and
a little ignition from a
flare, potentially, makes it
very risky for all of these
species that are supposed to
be in this like refugia of
an island, and all of that
is exacerbated by climate
change as well,” she said.
On
Monday afternoon, an
information officer
responding on behalf of the
National Park Service told
me fire crews were trying
“to steer or direct the fire
away from park assets like
the Torrey pines.” But the
federal fire report
confirmed that these efforts
were unsuccessful as the
flames overtook the Torrey
pines area. Crews reported
“the fire intensity was low
and that the stand remains
intact,” and they will be
performing a visual
inspection of the area.
Torrey
pine trees are somewhat
fire-adapted, dispersing
seeds immediately after a
blaze, but intense blazes
can be harmful. Fire—which
is uncommon on the Channel
Islands—also poses
existential threats to other
wildlife and plants endemic
to Santa Rosa, including the
little munchkin
liveforevers, according to
Harris.
“It’s
very possible that a
disturbance event like a
large wildfire could really
impact the longevity of
these populations and
species as a whole,” she
said.
Even
the firefighting efforts
themselves could be
disruptive if crews start
using certain, sometimes
destructive firefighting
equipment such as
bulldozers, according to
Russell Galipeau, who was
the superintendent of the
Channel Islands National
Park for 15 years.
“The
fragility of the islands,
their sensitivity, is really
important,” he said. “Last
thing we need are bulldozer
lines all over the place.”
The
fire information officer
responding on behalf of the
National Park Service told
me that the firefighters
consider “Minimum Impact
Suppression Tactics (MIST)
to preserve the natural and
cultural characteristics of
this landscape,” such as
using an existing trail or
natural feature to support
containment.
“As
part of the incident
management team, Resource
Advisors are assisting
firefighters by providing
guidance on how to protect
these sensitive assets
during operations when
possible,” the fire
information officer added.
Restoration
Setback
The
Santa Rosa fire hits in the
midst of a long-term
recovery effort across the
Channel Islands. In the
1800s, European settlers
introduced widespread sheep
and cattle ranching to the
region, along with pigs, elk
and deer for recreational
hunting. By the time the
National Park Service
started managing the parts
of the archipelago in the
mid-20th century, the
herbivores had nearly wiped
out native shrubs and trees
as invasive annual
grasslands dominated the
landscape.
Decades
of livestock removal,
invasive species eradication
and native plant recovery
have helped restore many of
the ecosystems, and long-term
restoration efforts
continue for the
island’s unique cloud
forests. But the fire could
undo some of that work on
Santa Rosa Island, Harris
said.
“Managing
invasive species after
wildfire can be kind of
complicated—it creates this
open space … where invasives
can kind of come in and
crowd out our natives before
they can get a hold,” she
said. “That’s a big risk
that I think people will be
watching out for.”
Animals
could also be at risk. Years
of recovery efforts pulled
island foxes from the brink
of extinction, with
populations rising from just
15 individuals on San Miguel
and Santa Rosa islands to
thousands, reports
show. But Galipeau
said the fire could hurt
these animals if they can’t
outrun it or if it destroys
their habitat and food
sources.
Authorities
are deploying additional
firefighters, off-road
utility vehicles, fire hoses
and pumps on the island,
with specialized fire
engines set to get there in
the middle of the week, and
will watch for better wind
conditions to try aerial
water drops. While Galipeau
recognized the difficulty of
fighting fire in the remote
region, he questioned the
timing of the efforts.
“Why
didn’t you start thinking
about mobilizing those
resources earlier?” he
said.
The
fire information officer
told me that “there were
challenges with getting
additional crews and
equipment to the island on
Saturday and Sunday because
of the gale warning and
conditions of the seas.”
Galipeau
also worries that park
officials won’t be able to
sufficiently monitor impacts
and launch recovery efforts,
given agency-wide
reductions last year
and deep
cuts the Trump
administration is proposing
for the National Park
Service.
Authorities
successfully evacuated 11
National Park Service
employees from Santa Rosa
over the weekend, and the
area is closed to the public
for now.
It’s
tough to say when the fire
will stop growing: Dry
winds, low humidity and warm
days continue to fan the
flames.
“While
there is no exact timeline,
the goal is to contain the
fire as soon as possible
using a variety of full
suppression strategies and
tactics,” the fire
information officer told me.
“While long-term recovery is
kept in mind during active
firefighting efforts and
guides decision making,
recovery planning does not
typically begin until
containment increases
significantly and forward
progress has slowed.”
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