From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):
This rapid emergence of new life — less than two months after the flames — hints at the potential for future aspen forests that state and federal experts say could be more diverse, healthy and resilient. “That sprouting would not be happening without the fire,” Lebeda said.
The ecological benefits of wildfires are a bright side of the burning that ravaged more than 116,000 acres of forest this year and destroyed more than 600 homes along Colorado’s Front Range. Six people died in this year’s wildfires. It’s largely a matter of letting in light where forests previously were unnaturally dense. Wildfires also release nutrients to the soil.
