Officials have varying viewpoints about fire damage at Blue Sky Reserve

By: ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Sunday, November 4, 2007 10:58 PM PST ∞

POWAY ---- Some city officials and outdoor enthusiasts are mourning the loss of hundreds of acres of critical habitat in Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, which was devastated by the massive Witch Creek fire two weeks ago.

City ranger Annie Ransom, who is stationed in the 721-acre nature area on the north end of Poway, and Councilwoman Merrilee Boyack were among those who said they were sickened by what they saw during post-fire visits to Blue Sky, virtually all of which burned in the fire.

"It just looks like a lunar landscape in parts," Ransom said last week. "You can use every word in the dictionary to describe it: sadness, heartache, what not. ... But it's just indescribable."

Others are taking a more philosophical view, saying fire is a normal part of nature's cycle. People in that group, including officials with San Diego County's Department of Parks and Recreation and California Department of Fish & Game, said potential erosion is a short-term concern in the fire's wake.

They also said that, in the long run, the fire could be a good thing for Blue Sky because people will get a chance to see how nature restores itself.

In the meantime, the preserve is closed to the public indefinitely.

"The main concern for us is trees that burned and are hanging over some of the trails," said Tim Dillingham, land manager for Blue Sky and other Fish & Game properties in Southern California. "We don't want any of those coming down and hurting people."

Poway co-owns Blue Sky with the county and the state agency, although the city is responsible for overseeing the preserve. It stretches from the northeast corner of Espola south to Lake Poway and east to Lake Ramona.

The preserve was among the areas hard-hit by the fire when Santa Ana winds pushed it from Ramona down through the San Pasqual Valley and into the northern part of Poway and Rancho Bernardo. The two communities lost 90 and more than 300 homes, respectively.

Blue Sky had no structures, but the preserve lost virtually all its vegetation to the flames. The fire also destroyed the preserve's large wooden sign, a city bus shelter, and a monument to the historic Poway Oak, a 200-year-old tree that the city cut down in 2002 because of disease.

Ransom said Blue Sky Ecological Reserve was unique because it contained four distinct habitats: chaparral hillsides, sage scrub hillsides, a riparian area and an oak woodland. They are deemed critical because they provide homes and food for redtail hawks, scrub jays and other endangered species, she said.

Blue Sky also is a corridor for deer, mountain lions and other wildlife passing through on their way to and from open space areas such as the San Dieguito River Park.

"These animals, unfortunately, just have to find some other ways to sustain themselves," Ransom said, adding that a couple of mule deer, several birds and a handful of rodents have been spotted foraging for food at Blue Sky since it burned. "That's what happens in a fire ---- if they don't die in a fire, they may die of starvation."

The preserve also is popular with hikers and equestrians looking for temporary escapes from city life. Boyack said the fire damage is particularly disheartening to outdoor enthusiasts because Poway's other open space preserve, Goodan Ranch/Sycamore Canyon Open Space Area, suffered a similar fate when the Cedar fire raged through Poway's southeast corner in 2003.

The fact that Goodan Ranch is rebounding from the first fire faster than expected offers some hope for Blue Sky's future, though, she said.

Dillingham and Cailin Hunsaker, district park manager for the county's Department of Parks and Recreation, said they, too, believe all is not lost at Blue Sky. Noting that state wildlife officials flew over the preserve Friday, Dillingham said they were saddened to see heavy damage to the riparian area, which runs along both sides of creek in the preserve, but saw encouraging signs as well.

"That burned pretty hot, although it doesn't look like it burned so hot that it won't reseed (itself)," he said. "And the hillsides are mostly black ash. That means that although they burned, they didn't burn so hot that it burned all the seeds (in the ground)."

A single season of moderate rains could cause those seeds to sprout, he and Hunsaker said.

"It really is a great interpretative opportunity for people," said Hunsaker. "Once it does reopen, (it will be) like Sycamore Canyon/Goodan Ranch ---- new interpretative opportunities occurred there as far as the fire and getting to see it coming back and rangers being able to talk about regrowth."

Heavy rains could cause Blue Sky's now-bare hillsides to slide. City, county and state officials are scheduled to get together today to discuss ways to prevent that and other post-fire maintenance issues in the preserve, Dillingham said.

Mayor Mickey Cafagna, who visited Blue Sky the day it burned, said he has no doubt the preserve will recover, though that will probably take several years.

"At this point, it's a great loss to the community 'cause it was a very popular wildlife area," he said. "(But) over the last 1,000 years, it's probably burned several times. And you know, nature cleans itself up."

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.