In Brief

TORREY PINES’ NARROW ESCAPE

Last late May, fire scorched and blackened sections of more than 18,300 acres of Santa Rosa Island, an ancestral Chumash land with cultural ties going back more than 13,000 years, and the only other location favored by the rare Torrey Pine outside of our own area. Though some pines were burned, many remain, according to reports, largely intact. Known as California’s Galapagos, the rugged and remote Channel Island is home to some 46 plants and animals found nowhere else on earth—including the island fox and deer mice that evolved into separate subspecies on the island. In time, Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists will evaluate the extent of the damage, the stability of soil, water, and future threats to cultural and natural resources to begin the process of recovery.