High on a ridgeline in the Stanislaus National Forest, Chris Schow is driving through miles after mile of dead, blackened trees. “Obviously, before the Rim Fire came through, these trees would have been green, alive,” he says.

As the U.S. Forest Service’s fire chief for this vast area east of Sonora, Schow was on duty one year ago this week, when the Rim Fire broke out. Over the next nine weeks, the fire would burn through about 400-square miles, an area more than twice the size of Lake Tahoe, including part of Yosemite National Park. It ranks as the biggest wildfire in the history of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

A year later, the natural recovery process has moved with glacial speed and, by many accounts, the government recovery has been even slower. The Forest Service has yet to complete its plan for how to salvage dead trees, not a single sapling has been planted and most of the burn zone remains off limits.

“We have to get through this stage by stage. First stage is get the hazard trees out, make the forest safe again for the public,” says Schow. As he walks through the forest, Schow points out signs of rebirth, tiny shoots of bear clover on the forest floor and green shoots from the base of blackened oak tree.

Later, we see a lone deer cross the road in front of us. “It’s a resilient place. It’s productive soil. It’s productive ground. Stuff is going to grow here again,” Schow says encouragingly.

From KCRA 3 News: https://www.kcra.com/news/1-year-after-rim-fire-recovery-has-barely-begun/27667958?tru=bIcTsz#ixzz3B8dHhtyc