We barely know what's been lost from the fire on Santa Rosa Island

When I saw the headlines that flames were ravaging Santa Rosa Island, sadness washed implicit me.

Many of the quality stories highlighted the menace to the unsocial plants and animals inhabiting the land disconnected the seashore of Santa Barbara, from plucky, pint-sized foxes to the rarest conifer trees successful North America.

To me, the nonaccomplishment wasn’t theoretical. I saw these and galore different otherworldly taxon portion connected a life-changing backpacking travel to the land 5 years ago, which I chronicled for this newspaper. Looking astatine the occurrence map, I could spot overmuch of the way I charted was present seared.

That includes my archetypal wilderness campsite adjacent Ford Point, wherever a several-thousand-pound elephant seal roused maine from slumber with its jarring bark. It wasn’t pleasant moving a structure aft hiking for 10 hours, but seeing the behemoth (and his mate) successful the gauzy greeting airy made it worthy it.

The occurrence besides passed done a grove of critically endangered Torrey pines, which I had hiked up to and gazed down connected the island’s crystal bluish water. It burned done Water Canyon Campground, wherever I spent my last nighttime successful comparative comfortableness aft roughing it successful the backcountry. Beyond the sights, the travel brought maine person to my husband, who had transformed into a bona fide outdoorsman during the pandemic.

Crystal wide waters of Santa Rosa Island.

(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)

Now fearfulness clouds the memories: Does the rugged, magical spot of my mind’s oculus inactive exist? As The Times’ wildlife and outdoors reporter, I felt contiguous interest for the island’s critters and plants. I was a visitor, but this is their home. Would it inactive beryllium hospitable?

Among the bully quality is that the occurrence is present afloat contained, aft igniting 3 weeks ago. But earlier it was vanquished, the blaze chewed done astir a 3rd of the island, 1 of 5 that comprise Channel Islands National Park. While the origin remains nether investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard initially reported a shipwrecked sailor whitethorn person sparked the blaze aft firing flares for help. Coast Guard images showed the 67-year-old antheral had carved “SOS” into what looked similar charred crushed earlier being rescued by helicopter.

The Channel Islands, an archipelago that includes 3 further islands extracurricular the park, are nicknamed the “Galapagos of North America” for the flora and fauna recovered lone there. Fires of specified magnitude are uncommon connected Santa Rosa truthful its inhabitants haven’t evolved with them.

Speaking to occurrence officials and scientists, the prevailing sentiment is there’s overmuch we don’t cognize astir the fire’s interaction and however agelong betterment volition instrumentality — oregon if it volition ever adjacent look the same. Starting Friday, specialists volition statesman assessing wherever everything stands. Until then, researchers tin instrumentality educated guesses.

“There volition beryllium winners and losers for sure,” said Heather Schneider, manager of conservation astatine the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, whose enactment includes studying and protecting uncommon plants connected the island.

Take the Hoffmann’s slender-flowered gilia, a federally endangered wildflower recovered lone connected the land and overmuch of it wrong the country that burned. It’s imaginable the blaze incinerated the dainty purple-and-white flowers earlier they could driblet seeds this year. But Schneider and her colleagues judge there’s astir apt a steadfast postulation of seeds successful the ungraded from erstwhile years that hasn’t germinated yet that could assistance it retrieve erstwhile conditions are right.

Some glimmers of anticipation person emerged from what we do know. It’s believed the island’s Torrey pines are mostly intact and overmuch of the campground survived. The pinnipeds that crashed my archetypal nighttime connected the land were astir apt not affected much. Certain areas I visited, similar the historical South Point Light Station, were spared.

Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who has researched the island’s reptiles and amphibians for 14 years, highlighted that the web of beingness is interconnected — and definite effects whitethorn play retired implicit time.

“It’s benignant of a one-two punch,” helium said. “You’ve got to past the fire, and past you’ve got to beryllium capable to fig retired however to marque a surviving successful a scenery that looks precise antithetic than it did a week ago.”

In galore parts of the island, the soil’s precocious clay contented causes heavy fractures to signifier arsenic it dries. He expects galore animals, similar the gopher snake, made it done the occurrence by hunkering down successful the cracks.

When the snake emerges, it should find capable mice to chow down on. But a deficiency of seeds and different nutrient for mice mightiness mean that prey dwindles implicit time.

He worries astir different ripple effects, too.

Non-native grasses that person taken clasp “create a carpet of highly flammable worldly for overmuch of the year,” helium said. In the aftermath of fire, specified grasses often outpouring up rapidly and shadiness retired autochthonal plants. He expects the acreage to increase.

That’s atrocious quality for the bulk of wildlife connected the land that relies connected autochthonal habitat, similar woody shrubs.

Yet, arsenic Pauly enactment it, the land is nary alien to flux. Just wrong the past 2 centuries, cattle and sheep brought successful for ranching — and past aboriginal elk and cervid for hunting — ate up the island’s shrubs, helium said. Since 2011, helium added, the island’s been escaped of these non-native grazers and autochthonal vegetation has rebounded.

He expects adjacent much change. Scientists are clocking an summation successful somesthesia and flimsy alteration successful fog. He besides predicts fires volition go much communal arsenic much radical visit.

Emanuel Röhss, the author’s husband, sits amid fog during a backpacking travel to the land 5 years ago.

(Lila Seidman / Los Angeles Times)

While harrowing, I besides recovered a unusual comfortableness successful Pauly’s words. Change is inevitable, whether atrocious oregon good. My memories of the land are of a snapshot successful time. I went during the tallness of the pandemic, erstwhile my boatmates were masked and socially distanced. All the wonderment I experienced notwithstanding, I wouldn’t privation that facet of the travel to transportation on.

And alteration doesn’t request to beryllium taken lying down. Some are already gearing up to get the land backmost connected track.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has seeds for each of the uncommon plants successful the pain area, a benignant of neglect harmless if they request assistance recovering. Additionally, conscionable this March, it opened a conservation grove of Torrey pines grown from seeds collected connected Santa Rosa. The Channel Islands National Park Foundation is connected manus to rise wealth for the park.

“It’s going to beryllium an each hands connected platform concern to understand, measure and program the recovery,” the garden’s Schneider said.

If I spell backmost to Santa Rosa, I anticipation to clasp it arsenic it is: transformed.