Large, human-set wildfires such as the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002 appear increasingly in the news, and it can be hard to think of these fires in positive ways just after they have burned. However, if you have not seen the landscape of the Missionary Ridge Fire lately, now that it has been 12 years since the fire, drive up Highway 550 to Hermosa in the afternoon and look off at Missionary Ridge to the east. It is quite beautiful up there right now, as the native Gambel oak that resprouts well after fire is turning orange-red and the young aspens that also resprouted after the fire are turning yellow. There are some dark red splotches of chokecherries widely scattered across the hillsides, too, along with patches of surviving Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir trees. Although it is a slow process, the landscape of the Missionary Ridge Fire is recovering, providing valuable early-successional wildlife habitat and a spectacular mosaic of recovering vegetation.
Bill Baker
Durango
