Avi Kwa Ame National Monument ~ Wintertime Rebirth & Regrowth
FEBRUARY 2025
This month’s seasonal update is brought to you by Aaron Leifheit, who has been doing Joshua tree research with the BLM and a team of volunteers in the York Fire burn area within Avi Kwa Ame National monument. In 2023, the York Fire burned over 93,000 acres of which approximately 8,000 were within the monument. More from Aaron and his Joshua tree study coming soon!
This is the winter after the fire, and the land feels cold and still and the crisp air nips through collars and pant legs.
In the hills east of Crescent Peak, south of Walking Box Ranch, isolated pockets of Joshua Trees among granite boulders survived the fire intact. From these green pockets, native rice grass and fluff grass have spread outward, followed by stretching buckwheat and pale lime green Mormon tea. Both provide habitat and food for desert tortoises, who survived the fire burrowed into the sides of desert washes.
On the west side of Crescent Peak, stretching down towards Nipton, the fire burned more thickly and evenly and the burn follows sharp lines along dirt roads or washes. All that remains of the blackbrush flats are small charcoal nubs poking up from the soil, but golden eagles, red tailed hawks, and ravens have been exploring the area. They are followed by deer and bighorn sheep venturing south from the McCullough wilderness, or north from the towering Castle Peaks. Jackrabbits and coveys of quail are scattering among the desert almond and catclaw, which are regrowing from the bases of black and burned trunks. Many yuccas and some Joshua trees survived the fire and are resprouting from their bases. Others are growing up from new seeds. Although the majority of the trees were killed, these resprouts stand out like bright green lanterns in the muted landscape.
Overall, events like the York Fire are incredibly damaging to desert ecosystems. But, in a melancholy way, they can be a chance for rebirth and regrowth. The stillness of the winter is the season to contemplate both.