When I saw the headlines that the flames were destroying Santa Rosa Island, I was filled with sadness.
Many of the stories highlighted the threat to the unique flora and fauna that inhabit the island off the coast of Santa Barbara, from foxes, pink foxes to Rare pine trees in North America.
For me, the loss was unreal. I saw these and many other terrestrial species while on a life-changing trip to the island five years ago, which I wrote for this newspaper. When I looked at the map of the fire department, I saw that most of the road that I had charted had burned.
That includes my first wilderness camping trip near Ford Point, where a thousand-pound elephant seal woke me from my sleep with its shrill bark. It wasn’t fun moving the tent after a 10 hour hike, but seeing the behemoth (and his mate) in the bright morning light made it worth it.
The fire also passed through a canopy of endangered Torrey pine trees, which I was perched on and looked down on the island’s blue waters. It burned at Water Canyon Campground, where I spent my last free night after roughing it in the backcountry. Apart from the material things, this trip brought me closer to my husband, who had become an honest outsider during this pandemic.
The crystal clear waters of Santa Rosa Island.
(Lila Seidman/Los Angeles Times)
Now fear blurs the memories: Is the rugged, magical landscape of my mind’s eye still there? As the Times’ wildlife and outdoor reporter, I felt an immediate concern about the island’s invaders and flora. I was a guest, but this is their home. Would there still be hospitality?
Among the good news is that the fire has been completely extinguished, after burning three weeks ago. But before it was contained, the fire burned about a third of the island, one of the five islands that make up the Channel Islands National Park. Although the cause is still under investigation, the US Coast Guard initially reported that the shipwrecked sailor may have started the fire after shooting flares for help. Coast Guard footage showed a 67-year-old man screaming “SOS” at what appeared to be a burnt area before being rescued by helicopter.
The Channel Islands, an archipelago that includes three additional islands outside the park, are named “The Galapagos of North America” of plants and animals found only there.” Fires this big are rare in Santa Rosa so its residents didn’t show up.
Speaking to fire officials and scientists, the prevailing feeling is that there is much we don’t know about the impact of the fire and how long it will take to recover – or whether it will look the same. From Friday, experts will begin to assess where everything stands. Until then, researchers can take educated guesses.
“There will be winners and losers for sure,” said Heather Schneider, director of conservation at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, whose job includes studying and protecting the island’s rare plants.
Take Hoffmann’s slender-flowered gilia, an endangered wild flower found only on the island and most of it within the burnt area. The fire may have burned the beautiful purple and white flowers before they set seed this year. But Schneider and his colleagues believe there is likely a healthy seed bank in the soil from years past that hasn’t germinated that could help it recover when conditions are right.
Some glimmers of hope have emerged from what we do know. The island’s Torrey pines are believed to be intact and much of the field survived. The aprons that crashed on my first night on the island were probably less affected. Some places I visited, like the historic South Point Light Station, survived.
Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who has studied the island’s reptiles and amphibians for 14 years, highlighted that the web of life is interconnected — and certain effects may play out over time.
“It’s kind of a one-two punch,” he said. “You have to survive the fire, and then you can figure out how to make a living in a place that looks very different than last week.”
In many parts of the island, the high clay content of the soil causes deep fractures as it dries. He expects many animals, such as the gopher snake, to come out of the fire by hunting in the crevices.
When the snake comes out, it has to find enough mice to kill them. But the lack of seeds and other food for rodents may mean that prey declines over time.
He worries about other ripple effects, too.
Stuck non-native grasses “create a carpet of highly flammable material for most of the year,” he said. After a fire, such grasses tend to grow quickly and shade out native plants. He expects the acreage to increase.
That’s bad news for many of the island’s wildlife that rely on native habitat, such as woody plants.
However, as Pauly said, this island tends to move. Two centuries ago, cattle and sheep were brought in for domestication – and later deer and deer for hunting – and ate the island’s shrubs, he said. Since 2011, he added, the island has been free of these non-native pastures and native vegetation has grown again.
He expects more change. Scientists blame the increase in temperature and the slow decrease in fog. He also predicts that fires will increase as more people visit.
Emanuel Röhss, the author’s husband, sits in the fog during a trip to the island five years ago.
(Lila Seidman/Los Angeles Times)
While I was worried, I also found a strange comfort in Pauly’s words. Change is inevitable, be it bad or good. My memories of the island are a snapshot in time. I went at the height of the pandemic, when my boat mates were masked and socially distanced. However, all the wonderful things I have experienced, I don’t want that aspect of the trip to continue.
And change doesn’t need to be taken lightly. Others are preparing to get the island back on track.
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has seeds of all the rare plants in the burned area, the kind that fail to be safe if they need help recovering. Additionally, just this March, a conservation park opened for Torrey pine trees planted from seeds collected in Santa Rosa. The Channel Islands National Park Foundation exists to raise funds for the park.
“It’s going to be an all-hands-on-deck situation to understand, assess and plan for recovery,” Gardener’s Schneider said.
When I return to Santa Rosa, I hope to receive it as it is: transformed.
