Alexander Mountain Fire Recovery - December, 2024
October, 2024: Black bears taking advantage of the new green growth from the Alexander Mountain Fire. The fire occurred right before the bears entered hyperphagia when they consume 15,000 - 20,000 calories a day in preparation for their winter dens. Because of the fire there were no wild plums, chokecherries or currants available this year for black bears.
Alexander Mountain Fire Overview
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Aug. 17, 2024)- Less than three weeks after the fire was first reported, the Alexander Mountain Fire has been declared 100% contained by Saturday, August 17.
The Alexander Mountain Fire started on Monday, July 29, 2024, north of US Highway 34 and west of Loveland, Colorado. Evacuations and road closures were in effect for several days. A total of 28 homes and 21 outbuildings lost in the fire. Final acreage of the fire has been mapped at 9,668 acres.
With 100% containment, the fire is now considered in monitor status. Fire personnel will continue to be working and monitoring in the area, and the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) work continues.
Monitoring Fire Recovery with Remote Cameras
This project, including five camera traps to monitor changes to the plant community as well as animal activity in Sulzer Gulch over five years (September, 2024 - September, 2029) will serve as an educational opportunity for outdoor and wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. We all wish the fire had never happened, destroying 30 million dollars worth of personal property and costing 11 million dollars to fight and extinguish. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear of homes, an art studio, and numerous outbuildings lost to the fire.
My first hike into the fire area was on September 1, 2024. It was absolutely heartbreaking. It was the first time in eighteen years that I didn’t see a single wildlife track the entire hike. No rodents, no deer or elk tracks, no bobcat, coyote, fox or mountain tracks. No bear tracks. No turkey tracks. Absolutely nothing. It was like going to a wildlife funeral with plenty of black everywhere to set the mood. I hiked with a lump in my throat and a gnawing pit in my stomach.
I had been thinking about how to turn lemons into lemonade, documenting the changes to the fire-scarred area, when I received a call from Janene Centurione, a longtime friend. She had the same idea but chose to help get the project off the ground immediately. She provided a generous donation which allowed us to purchase the first set of cameras. From there, others joined in, allowing us to purchase more cameras, cable locks, security boxes, SD cards and batteries. We now have a total of eight cameras within the fire area.
An enormous thanks to the following sponsors: Janene Centurione, Linda Renaud, Lee Anne Powers, Sue Krueger Koplin, BJ Auch, Susan Painter, Jill Nudo, Renee Waller, Melanie Gudgel, Tammy Green, Kelly McNair Palmer, Martin Madrra, Lorraine and Tom Busch, Annette Zimmerman, Carol Smith, Lynda Kithil, Nancy Westfall, Jill Sandleben, Kara Gould and Jennifer Young.
Donations are always welcomed. Currently, four of the 44 wildlife cameras are sponsored. All monthly and one time donations are greatly appreciated.
Donations welcomed: https://www.wildnaturemedia.com/donate
Signs of Life - Reflections To Date
By the middle of October I started to see more signs of life. By the end of November I had visited the area several times and noticed the following:
New plum shoots were now as high as 26 inches. That amount of growth for a woody plant since August 17, with very little moisture, seems almost impossible.
Mule deer activity seems to wax and wane even though there is plenty of new grass. The infusion of nitrogen into the ground has produced green up already which will continue on the south facing slopes throughout the winter. Praying for heavy snow this winter.
Mountain lion tracks were found throughout the valley although we saw the most tracks where the fire was the hottest. That could have been coincidental and simply because the burned substrate allowed more tracks to show up. I'm guessing that may have been the case.
Still very little sign of new growth where the chokecherry bushes burned. It may just take more time. I hope to see more growth next spring.
Red fox and grey fox activity continues to be much higher after the fire than before the fire. I still don't have any idea why.
Poison ivy is really happy and I witnessed new growth everywhere. The cycle of new growth, turning red like it does every fall and then the leaves falling off all happened in a span of four weeks. That was interesting as that cycle typically takes from May until early November.
The gulch is very, very dry, probably the driest I've ever seen it in the fall. We need moisture.
The US Forest Service had thinned a large section of the upper part of the gulch with slash piles every hundred yards as far as the eye could see, before the fire. Unfortunately, those piles were never burned, most likely due to a lack of sufficient snowfall. Typically they require six inches of snow and the right weather conditions to burn the piles. These piles all burned in the Alexander Mountain Fire and added to the intensity of the burn.
Between December and March we’ll be spending our time looking for wildlife tracks to determine the variety of wildlife species as well as the density of each species. On November 29, 2024, Dave Ruane and I hiked to the top of Sulzer Gulch to witness the extent of the fire. There are many sections of the fire in the upper part of the gulch that burned completely. It was gut wrenching to see the devastation. The spring at the homestead burned completely. The stock tanks as well as the wildlife guzzler burned along with the PVC pipe coming out of the spring. It’s hard to say whether that spring will produce anymore because the hillside it’s on burned completely as well. It may be too dry to produce water in the future, at least in the next several years. We’ll see.
Watch for the next update in January, 2025.
