It could take the pinyon-juniper woodlands in the area roughly 200 to 300 years to return, while the blackbrush scrub and Joshua trees are unlikely to regrow after this catastrophic blaze, according to one scientist.
Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and could threaten the region's famous spiky Joshua trees.
However, the 400 or so firefighters battling the blaze had to balance their efforts with concerns about disrupting the fragile ecosystem in California's Mojave National Preserve, The blaze erupted near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve, crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.The fire started on private lands within the preserve, but the cause remains under investigation. Less than 3% of the land in the 2,500-square mile preserve is privately owned.
Some of the preserve's plants can take centuries to recover from destruction. It could take the pinyon-juniper woodlands alone roughly 200 to 300 years to return, while the blackbrush scrub and Joshua trees — which grow only in the Mojave Desert — are unlikely to regrow after this catastrophic blaze, said Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
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