On November 28, 2016, a wildfire of unprecedented
scale swept through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and spilled
over into the surrounding community of Gatlinburg, claiming 14 lives and
burning a total of 17,904 acres, and forever changing the lives of those in the
greater GSMNP community. Today, spring is coming—has come. Gatlinburg is
bustling. And it is clear that the ecosystem will recover smoothly, and the
community, though branded with the memory of hometown disaster, will return to
its position as a viable tourist destination, stronger for it.
Photo by Matt Reilly |
What began as a small 1.5-acre fire smoldering slowly in the duff—the layer of organic matter on the forest floor—atop the popular Chimney Tops on November 23, 5.5 miles from Gatlinburg, was rapidly bolstered into a raging blaze four days after Thanksgiving when winds registered up to 87 MPH ripped through the Smokies, already bone-dry due to several months of drought.
The scene was chaotic and undoubtedly sorrowful; and
the impacts on businesses, families, and livelihoods cannot be downplayed.
However, despite the sensationalized portrayals of the situation that has
colored people’s perceptions of what remains of the GSMNP, the reality of the
impacts of the fire is hopeful.
Of the Park’s 522,427 acres, only 11,410 acres—roughly
2 percent—were consumed by the fire. What’s more, because of the high winds
that contributed to the rapid magnification of the fire, about 65 percent of
the area that was consumed was only very lightly burned, resulting in burned
undergrowth and the bases of trunks, but very few dead trees. The area of the
Park that was burned intensely—about 1,000 acres—represents just 0.2 percent of
the entire area.
Bringing even more hope, GSMNP Management Assistant,
Dana Soehn, pointed out that “The fire occurred outside of the growing season,
so most vegetation was dormant. Trees and shrubs were only highly effected in
about 10 percent of the burned area.” In a brief walk through the forest,
adjacent to one of the most heavily burned areas, buds are becoming visible on
even the smallest of saplings.
Photo by Matt Reilly |
The soil within the burn zone is relatively intact,
too. “Duff layers, root mats, and seed banks are mostly intact in over 90
percent of the burn area,” said Soehn, and it shows. Daffodils, grasses, and
groundcovers have emerged from the now moist ground as some of the first signs
of spring.
To ease the worries of those who value the Park for
its wildlife viewing opportunities, wildlife have shown no signs of suffering.
According to GSMNP Wildlife Biologist Bill Stiver, only two of an estimated
1200 black bears inhabiting the Park are known to have perished due to the
fire. Many, in fact—including the majority of the black bear sows—were had
already begun hibernation when the fire swept through.
Photo by Matt Reilly |
Species that prefer open woodlands—like bats, of which
the Park houses 13 species, 4 of which are critically endangered within the
Park—will find refuge in the newly created habitat, as will deer, which thrive
around edge habitat and in new growth forests. Turkeys were observed in some of
the burned areas almost immediately following the fire. A winter burn affects a
stronger spring green-up and a long sightline, which provide the birds with
food and security.
The fisheries within the Park were perhaps the least
effected, though 55 miles of stream were engulfed in fire. “No impacts from
fire relative to nitrates, sulfates, pH, or temperature have been found,” said
GSMNP Fisheries Biologist Matt Kulp, citing 20 years of previous baseline data.
“There has been no significant difference in sediment in the streams, either,”
said Kulp, as he released a healthy wild rainbow electroshocked from a Little
Pigeon River tributary stream.
Photo by Matt Reilly |
The 31 miles of trails closed because of impacts from
the fire have mostly been repaired and reopened to the public.
Recreation, in the form of wildlife watching, fishing,
and hiking, will resume in the Park this spring, providing little reason for
visitors to postpone vacations and trips to the region. The community, which
sees 11.3 million visitors annually, remains fully functional. In fact, record
visitorship for the month of December was recorded the month following the
fire.
Ecologically speaking, wildfire is a natural event
intrinsic to eastern ecosystems, and may even be interpreted as beneficial to
the diversity of habitat and wildlife within the Park. What’s more, the Chimney
Tops 2 wildfire will offer a unique opportunity for visitors and scientists to
study and become familiar with wildfire, which has been largely avoided through
management for recreation. The GSMNP is, and will continue to be, a natural
treasure in the heart of the East.
Want to help the Smokies? Go see it for yourself. □
*Originally published in The Rural Virginian
1 comment :
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