Charred trees punctuated the Eldorado National Forest like blackened skeletons of their former selves, victims of the Mosquito Fire. Two years earlier, in 2022, the Mosquito Fire started in Tahoe National Forest, moved north to the Eldorado and torched a total of 76,788 acres, making it California’s largest wildfire in 2022.
Charred trees punctuated the Eldorado National Forest like blackened skeletons of their former selves, victims of the Mosquito Fire. Two years earlier, in 2022, the Mosquito Fire started in Tahoe National Forest, moved north to the Eldorado and torched a total of 76,788 acres, making it California’s largest wildfire in 2022.
For me, the sight of those burned trees was shocking. But for USDA Forest Service biological science technicians, Avery Sigarroa and Adam Wood, mapping and gathering data about the scorched landscape was part of their job.
“That data will inform a long-term study of how the Eldorado is faring, years after the Mosquito Fire struck in 2022, capturing points in time” Sigarroa, who also served as crew lead, explained.
September 2024 marked the end of their season in which they had recorded data on plants and wildlife in 60 plots in the Mosquito Fire’s footprint. That data will contribute to a long-term study that looks at the health of burned forests over time.
Researchers with diverse specialties will comb through that information to see what wildlife is coming back or visiting the forest, what plants are growing there, the ability of trees to regenerate after a wildfire and more. Looking at large swaths of land, they will compare areas where logging has occurred to those left untreated. Compiling these findings, will give researchers a sense of what’s happening to scorched forests and the life they sustain over time.
Thinking of this, I trailed behind Sigarroa and Wood, following them deeper into the forest to our plot. When we arrived, Wood hiked off to retrieve a wildlife camera, and set up acoustic bat and birdsong devices that recorded the animals’ distinctive calls. Later, scientists will sort through that data to distinguish each species by sound.
While Wood focused on the wildlife, Sigarroa placed a stake in the ground with four tape measures over it.
