I recently took a trip up to Lassen Volcanic National Park to check out the impacts of the Dixie Fire, which burned through the area between July and October 2021. At almost 1 million acres, it was California’s largest single wildfire.
Heading north up Highway 89, I first encountered signs of the burn around Quincy. As is typical of large forest fires, it was patchy, with some areas barely touched, and other areas completely torched. Within the Feather River canyon, the oaks were already re-sprouting from their roots, creating green splotches of vegetation on otherwise blackened hillsides.
I circled Lake Almanor, and drove into Chester to the turnoff for Juniper Lake. The firefighters did a phenomenal job of protecting Chester, one of my favorite NoCal towns. As I left Chester, and headed north into Lassen Park, I drove through a patch of completely burned out forest. Surprisingly enough, it was an area that had been recently thinned, but every tree was dead. Inside the park, things were a little better, and I was happy to see that the campground at Juniper Lake had been mostly spared. Small clusters of smaller white fir had been killed, perhaps by the heat, as they didn’t look to have burned.
I set up camp, and explored the beach while enjoying the sound of the waves on the shore. After dinner, I took Shadow for a walk along the road on the east side of the lake, fascinated by what the fire damaged and what was left. Overall, it appeared to me to be a good cleanout. Many of the younger trees were killed, while the taller, older trees survived. Grasses and small shrubs, including mats of manzanita and kinnickinnick, were already recovering.
When the light started to fade, we turned to head back to camp. As we passed a clump of fire-killed trees, I heard a loud chewing sound. I approached the trees, and sure enough, the sound was coming from them. It was really loud, and I was sure I had not heard it earlier, so it was starting as darkness was approaching. I knew right away it must be fire-chaser beetles (genus Melanophila, or “black-loving”), which are attracted to trees freshly killed by fire. A couple of species of woodpeckers specialize on these beetles, and love fire-killed trees for nesting and roosting. I put together a little video of the sights and sounds around Juniper Lake:
The chewing sounds faded about the time the birds started becoming active in the morning:
So it appears to me that the beetle larvae minimize their chances of becoming woodpecker chow by being more active at night. But if you live inside a tree, how do you know when it’s night?
For more about fire-chase beetles, including how they have spiffy infrared sensors to detect forest fires, see:
Or an interesting article:
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/how-a-half-inch-beetle-finds-fires-80-miles-away/
Lassen is known for its dark skies. The first night there was beautifully clear, and the sky show did not disappoint:
The campground was also full of chipmunks and squirrels, busy gathering cones to stash for winter.
Tucked in among the younger trees in the campground were stumps from giant fir trees that had been logged some time in the past. A few of the giants (probably having grown up since the logging) still remain, but most of the forest now is young fir, lodgepole, and ponderosa pine. How stunning this place must have been when shaded by these giants.
In response to the fire, and to reduce the risk in future wildfires, logging has ramped up to a level not seen in 50 years. New lumber mills are being created and old mills re-started. It seems like every other vehicle on the highway is a logging truck. The sounds of chain saws and feller bunchers echo through the forests. To salvage the burned trees before the beetles do too much damage, they have to be quick. It doesn’t do the forest any good, but maybe it will bring lumber prices down.