Ecologists say life will return to B.C. wildfire zone, but trees may never grow back

The charred hills surrounding Lake Okanagan in the B.C. Interior will likely look very different in a year's time and beyond as life returns to the wildfire-ravaged landscape, ecologists predict.

An eruption of low plants, grasses, and shrubs will turn the hills green. Birds and small mammals, as well as deer and bears, will return to feast on berries and other plant life. Carnivores including cougars could move in.

But the tall trees destroyed by the fires may never recover or return, said Robert Gray, a wildland fire ecologist.

"When you look at West Kelowna, it's really rocky, steep ground and trees aren't going to come back very well there. There is not a lot of moisture in the soil and it's only going to get drier with climate change,'' said Gray. "A lot of that landscape may not see a lot of trees come back.''

Gray said that by next June, people should expect to see "an explosion of shrubs, grasses, and herbs'' sprouting from the ruined forest.

"What will happen on that landscape is you'll get a lot of shrubs. Grasses will come back and that's good for a while,'' said Gray.

"Nature is amazing. It's resilience ... there are so many plants that are adapted to fire. They need fire on a regular basis, so they will re-occupy those areas."

For instance, shrub species in the wildfire zone already had seeds deeply buried in the soil, and were waiting for heat or fire to germinate them, Gray said.

Tree recovery is a different matter.

"Unless you intentionally plant these areas, they're not likely to have a lot of trees in the future,'' said Gray.

Okanagan residents are no strangers to catastrophic wildfires.

In 2003, the Okanagan Mountain Park fire forced the evacuation of thousands of people and destroyed hundreds of properties. It also transformed the landscape.

Tara Bergeson, an urban forestry supervisor with the City of Kelowna, said the 2003 fire that scorched the park and the city was "very severe and has had a lasting impact on the landbase.''

"Little regeneration has occurred in much of the area, and we may not see trees return in a timely way or at all. Currently, much of the area remains as shrubs and grassland,'' Bergeson wrote in an email.