Mount Diablo

Harvest of Fire

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A journalist spends two years documenting the dramatic changes that the Morgan Fire brought to Mount Diablo.

Scarlet bugler blooming atop Kreiger Peak, 2007. Photo by Heath Bartosh

Chasing the Fire Followers

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Botanist Heath Bartosh, co-founder of Nomad Ecology, gained an early appreciation for the rich botanical wealth of the Golden State.

Big Sur fire

Forged by Fire

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We know that wildfire is a key part of the ecology of the Bay Area and has played a major role in shaping our landscapes. Yet it’s simply not possible to let fires burn naturally in an urban region such as ours. But just to the south, the 240,000-acre Ventana Wilderness near Big Sur is large and remote enough to allow for the return of a natural fire regime. That’s what has happened over the past 30 years as a series of lightning-ignited wildfires has helped shape both a living laboratory of fire ecology and an increasingly diverse landscape.