Staff from the Winthrop-based Pacific Biodiversity Institute will lead a field trip on Saturday (Sept. 13) covering parts of the Carlton Complex Fire burn area to explore wildlife responses and ecosystem recovery.
A car pool for the free trip will leave the Hank’s Harvest Foods parking lot in Twisp at 10 a.m. The trip is expected to conclude by 5 p.m.
Participants should bring water, a field lunch, and sturdy running shoes or hiking boots, and wear clothing appropriate for the weather. Camera, binoculars, and field identification guides are encouraged.
Katrina Fisk, a conservation biologist from the University of Washington studying ponderosa pine forest ecosystems and their wildlife with the institute, and Peter Morrison, a forest ecologist and fire expert, will lead the field trip and help interpret how birds, mammals and plants responded to the fire. Areas to be examined include ponderosa pine forests, riparian areas and shrub-steppe vegetation.
The institute has conducted an initial assessment of the impact of the fire, which is available at www.pacificbio.org/initiatives/fire.html. The institute also has launched a more in-depth, field-based study to determine the extent of the impacts to wildlife and their habitat.
For more information, call 996-2490.
