Updated December 1, 2005

The Syncline Ridge fire

The 28,000 hectare fire that burned through the Rocky River valley in the eastern part of Jasper National Park in 2003 created some exceptional wildlife habitat. New growth in the area is attracting moose, elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer, mountain goats and bighorn sheep as well as wolves, black bears and grizzlies.

Grizzlies and fire

The opportunistic grizzly benefits from wildfire. After the huge 1988 Yellowstone National Park fire, 13 out of 21 radio-collared grizzlies moved into the burned areas. One percent of the elk population was killed by that fire and the carcasses provided excellent food.  During the spring and summer the bears grazed on grasses and forbs whose growth was accelerated by newly released nutrients.  As burned trees fell to the ground they provided habitat for ants, an important food for both black bears and grizzlies and berry bushes began producing crops again within 3-7 years.

The same renewal is now taking place along the Rocky River. Hopefully this area will remain attractive enough for decades to come and keep many park grizzlies from straying out onto the dangerous provincial lands of Alberta in search of food.

The Fire Birds
While there is no mythical phoenix in the park to rise from the ashes there are plenty of other birds that benefit from the fires that produce these ashes.

Researchers are now beginning to realize that declines of some Neotropical migrants are linked to long-term fire suppression. In northern Michigan, the Kirtland’s Warbler – one of North America’s rarest birds – was in danger of extinction until an out-of-control fire triggered a population revival. Wildfires of the past created the dense young stands of jack pine that this warbler required for nesting but the now-mature pines needed a fire to release the seeds from their cones to recreate this critical habitat.

Some species of birds actively seek out burned trees. Woodpeckers – particularly the black-backed woodpecker - are looking for the larvae of the black fire beetle Melanophila acuminata. These “pyrophilic”, or fire-loving, beetles are a fascinating story in themselves. They are equipped with sensory pits densely packed with tiny receptors  enabling them to detect the infrared radiation from a fire up to 5 kms away. Once at the fire site they find the perfect condition for mating and laying eggs. There are not yet any predators, as these have fled from the fire, and the dead trees are no longer able to exude toxic chemicals to drown the beetle larvae in sticky resin.  Very soon there are grubs in abundance in the dead trees and this is what the woodpeckers have come looking for.

To raise a family, a pair of black-backed woodpeckers may excavate as many as 13,000 insect larvae.  They also create nesting sites for themselves in the dead trees and these in turn become nest sites for many other birds and mammals such as chickadees, tree swallows, kestrels, flying squirrels and pine martens. 

Another bird that benefits from the excavations of the woodpecker is the mountain bluebird: the numbers of these lovely birds seem to have been declining in the park over the past decade. Maybe the fire in the Rocky River area will help to reverse this trend.

The flycatching Lewis woodpecker is a relatively rare bird in western Canada but now it may be tempted to move into the Syncline Ridge area. One of its primary breeding habitats is burned coniferous forest where the open terrain permits flycatching. Its other requirement is a dense understory shrub coverage generating an abundance of insects: by summer 2006 this interesting woodpecker with the green back, wings and tail, red face and pink and white underbelly may find what it is looking for.

Talbot Lake

Part of the burned forest of the 2003 fire can be seen across Talbot Lake from the main highway. There is a marked greening-up of the sandy slopes and with binoculars it is easy to pick out where past generations of wolves have located dens above the lake.

A close look along the banks of the lake last summer revealed mats of haircap moss. While it may seem strange to find a moss in full sunlight, this species colonizes burnt areas and appears as a dark orange carpet of thickly growing plants. Fireweed was prolific in the moister areas below the slopes and the bright green of the horsetails made a lovely contrast with the blackened trees.

Future burning schedule

Although there were prescribed burns planned for this past summer, very few actually took place. One was set behind Old Fort Point running in a line towards the southeast. This one will be continued next year to the slopes of Signal Mountain in order to create a fireguard south of town.  At the same time one or two dense pockets of trees will be left in the break in order to draw away any fire from the south advancing towards the town.

Seven more conceptual burn plans will be put before the Parks Canada National Fire Committee at regional and national levels for necessary funding. Objectives for these proposed fires will be based on the ecological integrity of the areas, outbreaks of mountain pine beetle, fireguards and discussions with the province of Alberta.

These burns could include some in the Fiddle River area, the Pyramid Bench above the town, Henry House area, Windy Point, Hawk Mountain, Brazeau area, and what is known as the Stone Mountain Complex to the west of town as far as Marjorie Lake.

Slowly the park is being returned to a more natural state after almost a century of fire suppression.  Fat ungulates should soon be much in evidence – as well as fat predators.

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