Federal emergency response team begins intensive damage survey
Days before human dwellers of Clear Creek were allowed to return
last Friday, deer and elk which had fled the Seeley Fire were
cautiously moving back to their habitat. The forest is still
home to them. While much is blackened, there is still green to
be found and the animals know where to find it. As nature takes
its course over the next few years, it is going to be a better
place than it was before the fire. That's the assessment of Bill
Bates, regional manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources,
and Nicole Nielson, an oil and gas biologist with DWR. According
to them, the fire has cleared away a patchwork of old-growth
forest, including the desiccated beetle-killed conifers. The
scorched earth is not a pretty sight, but with the evergreen
canopy removed, it is now open to sunlight. New growth will take
advantage of that sunlight and the water and nutrients. Bates
and Nielson made those comments during a tour of habitat
improvement projects a