TUOLUMNE CITY, Calif. — In the midst of a foreboding canyon scorched bare by the Sierra Nevada's most destructive fire in centuries, tiny ferns unfurl along a spring, black oaks push through charred soil normally blanketed with pine needles.
Just four weeks after the most intense day of California's Rim Fire — when wind and extremely arid conditions created a conflagration that turned 30,000 acres of dense conifers and oaks into a moonscape — life is returning as the forest begins to repair itself.
''It's a pretty harsh environment, but we know fire can be good and that species depend on it, and that fire allows seeds to germinate,'' said Sean Collins of the South Central Sierra Incident Command Team.
''Next spring we'll see a lot of wildflowers and plants that haven't been seen around here for a long, long time. In 20 years, we'll see something really nice. But it will take 200 years at least for it to grow back the way it was,'' he said.