Bearpaw Sanctuary, San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society

We are still closed due to water system problems, but the forest isn’t waiting on us. Green spots are popping up all around us.

This footage wasn't taken at Bearpaw, but we have bobcats and we have rattlesnakes, and something like this scene has undoubtedly occurred many times. What an amazing capture!

The National Forest and Bearpaw are still officially closed. Air quality is unhealthful due to ash and spot fires still erupting from smoldering coals. The electric gate opens, but the exit detector was damaged during the burn over. We keep losing water supply, which means no bathrooms, no wash up, no drinking water. The El Dorado Fire hit us hard. But, we will reopen soon, for visitors and volunteers.

It has been a month since this sight prompted evacuation from Bearpaw, captured by Forest Falls photographer David Russell. Bearpaw burned several days later, with no loss of structures. The forest still smolders around us, awaiting winter rains to fully extinguish the El Dorado Fire.

El Dorado Fire, Day 27 update. Jim Heisler got water flowing to the cabin and barn last week. Yesterday, Edison brought in a generator to provide electric power. No phone. No internet. The fire is still burning visibly in the area above Monkeyface Falls. The air is smoky and stinks of ash. Birds are singing and feasting at the Bearpaw feeders.

Good news from the other side of our ridge, that a champion tree was protected. At Bearpaw we still await the lifting of the evacuation order. Our HQ was protected by firefighting teams, and we hope to find our own big Oaks have survived due to their own natural resilience.

This video from Friday 9/11 shows the fire quieting down, but still active. This remains true today, Sunday 9/13. Take the full 20" tour from the Edison plant bridge to the Forest Falls bridge. The section from Mountain Home Village to Bearpaw broke my heart. It starts at about 12 minutes in, if you want to skip ahead in the video. There is some near moonscape there, but I think we will see resprout happening quickly. Things always look horrible right after a fire. The narrator talks about seeing Bearpaw surrounded by flame during the blowup. I'm not sure my heart is up to seeing that footage, if it exists. But the headquarters for both Audubon Society and Wildlands Conservancy are fine -- thanks to valiant preparation efforts by firefighters to clear brush and apply fire-retardant gel to the buildings.

Hey, just a shout out to say -- Bearpaw is safe. This is a picture from a couple days back. Our contacts reassure us that Bearpaw has NOT burned to a moonscape, although it definitely has been touched by flame. We are now in Day 9 of evacuation from the El Dorado Fire. There are active smoldering fires all along the canyon, from bottom to top, mouth to jump-off. Until firefighters can be sure that one of those little fires won't fan up into a big blowup, the evacuation order stays in place. It is much easier for firefighters to work without worrying about civilian safety or civilians accidentally interfering.

Scene in our canyon from Sept 8. Photo credit Randall Ridges. Some of the fire being fought is true wildfire. Other fires were started by the firefighters, to burn off dry brush and understory as a preventative measure.

Scenes from the big blowup on Sept 9, 2020. Very scary, as it started more or less at Bearpaw, and threatened Forest Falls and Angelus Oaks. Firefighters did an outstanding job of keeping our communities safe.

Photos from Tuesday Sept 9 2020. All the flame you see is deliberately set "back fire" intended to reduce flammable material around the nearby residence and outbuilding.

Fire retardant gel greatly increases the chances of a structure surviving wildfire, if embers blow or flame fronts pass by.

More pics from Sept 9th -- the big push to protect Bearpaw.

Scenes of fire, low intensity burning in the forest at Bearpaw. It looks scary, but the forest will be okay. These small fires make it less likely that a more devastating big fire will get a foothold. Amazing photography by David Russell.