{"id":41047,"date":"2016-07-27T05:20:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T11:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=41047"},"modified":"2016-07-27T05:20:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T11:20:46","slug":"a-report-on-the-aftermath-of-the-antelope-island-fire-including-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/27\/a-report-on-the-aftermath-of-the-antelope-island-fire-including-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"A Report On The Aftermath Of The Antelope Island Fire, Including Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning they finally opened the east side\u00a0road to Fielding Garr Ranch and I was among the first to drive it after the fire. What I saw was depressing but it certainly could have been worse.<\/p>\n

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But two mornings ago I had to visit the island even though I knew most of it was closed to access because of continuing fire suppression efforts. This was my first good look at the fire scar from along the causeway to the island.\u00a0Almost exactly half of\u00a0the\u00a0 28,000+ acre island was consumed by flames but\u00a0much of the destruction was on the inaccessible and extremely remote back side of the island.<\/p>\n

Each of the following images was taken yesterday morning and they’re presented in no particular order.<\/p>\n

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Thankfully\u00a0very little\u00a0of the fire scar is even\u00a0visible until you pass the access road to the Frary Peak trailhead (although some of it\u00a0can be seen on the back side from the Buffalo Point Overlook). As soon as I could see the fire line I could also see a large portion of the bison herd (there were many more of them than can be seen here) as they moved toward fresh water springs on the edge of the island for their morning drink.<\/p>\n

For obvious reasons they’re avoiding the burned areas.<\/p>\n

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In some areas, particularly southwest of Garr Ranch, fire lines cut by a bulldozer can be seen in the burned areas but this one was apparently cut north of the advancing fire but the fire never reached it – thanks to incredible efforts by firefighters. These cuts should eventually heal.<\/p>\n

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I presume the reddish stains that can be seen in many areas to be fire retardant dumped by the helicopters and planes that were fighting the fire. Here the fire was advancing to the north and it looks like the retardant stopped it in its tracks.<\/p>\n

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One of the things I was extremely worried about was the groves of trees at the ravine bottoms on the east-facing slopes. These trees are important habitat for a variety of species including porcupines during summer. I assumed that many of them were consumed by the fire so I was very pleasantly surprised that most seem to have survived.<\/p>\n

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At one point the fire came within several hundred yards of the road but in most areas it was nowhere near that close.<\/p>\n

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Yet another grove of surviving trees in a ravine. It appears that firefighters may have made specific efforts to save them. Trees are at a premium on this desert island so I was delighted to note their survival.<\/p>\n

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The fire came quite close to the road at this spot but once again the stain of the retardant helps to tell the story.<\/p>\n

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Firefighters fought hard to save Garr Ranch. This is the scene from the upper (dirt) parking lot at the ranch looking southwest.<\/p>\n

Even though half of the island burned most of the loss was on the west and south sides where it’s less visible to visitors.<\/p>\n

While I was on the island yesterday I stopped and talked to Antelope Island State Park manager Jeremy Shaw for about 20 minutes. I asked lots of questions and Jeremy was forthcoming with answers. Below are some of his more interesting points (paraphrased as accurately as I can recall):<\/p>\n