By Joel Reese

Although the Inverness Ridge fire destroyed 45 homes and wrought $40 million in damage, Point Reyes National Seashore officials this week told The Light the blaze will benefit plant and wildlife in the park.

"The fire wasn't all bad," Superintendent Don Neubacher said Monday. "It was a major tragedy with the home loss, but it was really good for the wildlands system."

Although much of the park reopened Tuesday, several parts remained closed to visitors, including the Estero, Bear Valley, Five Brooks, and Coast trails, plus Mount Vision and Limantour roads.

John Dell'Osso, the park's chief of interpretation, said, "There's just too much of a danger there" to reopen the entire park. The possibility of trees falling is still high. "We'd rather have safety and wait another week," the ranger said.

Neubacher said that although the park may look ruined, the long-term prospects are bright even if the benefits now elude the naked eye.

For example, Bolinas arborist Ray Moritz told The Light that Bishop Pine forests regenerate after fires. The trees often die during intense fires, he said, but the extreme heat opens their cones and allows seeds to spread.

Another benefit, Neubacher said, will be increased diversity in both plant and wildlife species.

Neubacher said the fire offers an opportunity for new plant species to take hold, many of which had been kept in check by dominant chaparral and coyote brush.

"Over time, we're going to get a larger biodiversity there," he said.

Ranger Dell'Osso said the loss of the coyote brush means the park may be "covered" with wildflowers next spring. "This area is going to have an incredible carpet of color," he said.

An increase in plant diversity, in turn, will likely lead to an increase in wildlife variety, Neubacher said.

"In many respects, the wildlife population will be more diverse," he said, "because there will be a more diverse food system."

Neubacher said the fire likely had minimal long-term effect on the park's animal population.

"In general, it's a short-term impact on wildlife," he said. "I'm sure we lost some rabbits and other species, but I'm sure they'll repopulate pretty quickly." More controlled burns

Another benefit, the superintendent said, will be public awareness -- and appreciation -- of controlled burns.

"I think we'll find more people who think [controlled burns] are a good way to protect adjacent developed areas," he said, noting that critics have opposed such burns in the past fearing they might go out of control.

"When you burn in proscribed conditions, it's very manageable," Neubacher said.

The superintendent said he may start a "burn regime" -- a series of regular, controlled burns -- throughout the park. "We won't let the fuel load accumulate to such an extent in the future," he said.

Neubacher was quick to point out that the negative effects of the fire are also far-reaching. The fire cost at least $5.3 million to fight, he noted, and rains this winter could seriously erode burned and naked hillsides.

Neubacher said erosion would not only silt-up local creeks, but could threaten houses that weren't destroyed by the fire.

The Environmental Action Committee of West Marin wants to get money to fight prospective erosion.

"It's clear that some of the areas up there are really going to be vulnerable to erosion damage," EAC Executive Director John Grissim said. "There are some fairly steep ravines, so unless some mitigation is done, there's a very real possibility there could be some serous mudslides, or even landslides."

Also, EAC has contacted local experts --Ęsuch as arborist Moritz, hydrologist Phil Williams, and forester Tom Gaman -- to form a team to examine and help remedy the damage and potential erosion problems.

A 30-person group of federal experts -- the Burned Area Emergency Rehab team, or BAER -- flew into the area last Thursday to assess the fire damage.

The BAER team, part of the Interior Department, consists of vegetation experts, hydrologists, wildlife biologists, soil scientists, and other experts.

On Monday, park workers hunched in front of color computer screens, printing out maps of the fire's path and overlays showing the distance from bulldozer trails to rare plants.

Members of the BAER team recommend how best to rehabilitate the burn area, and will also check damage to historical sites, damage done by the firefighting, and erosion threats.

Neubacher said the BAER team has already made several recommendations about how to mitigate erosion, such as laying down a biodegradable netting called Curlex.

The netting will hold the soil together and make it more penetrable for seeds, which upon sprouting will help stabilize slopes.

"It's a short-term way of putting in some vegetation that will hold the soil without having an impact on the local ecosystem," she said.

One place where recovery teams are already working is Laguna Trail off Limantour Road. The trail was used as a bulldozer route during the fire. It was formerly about eight-feet wide. Now it is 30-feet wide and barren of any vegetation, although charred trees have been laid across the the trail to discourage vehicle traffic and eventually fertilize the soil.

"The trees will eventually degrade into the ground," Fister explained.

The jagged claws of an excavator have already been dragged through the soil parallel to the old trail. The broken ground will be more receptive to seedling.

"If we don't break up the soil, it stays this smooth, solid surface, which is really tough for seeds to go into," said Fister. "The area wouldn't rehabilitate the way we'd want if nature did it on its own, so we've got to do some work to help it.

"We're trying to restore it to the way it looked before, not like a fire road. It looked like there was a highway here, and basically we're trying to obliterate it."

Also to be worked on are trees that were cut down in making fire lines. Park workers will wrap the plastic explosive Det Cord around the smooth cut ends of the tree.

When the explosives are detonated, it will "leave a jagged edge, like the tree feel in the wind rather than it was cut down," Fister said.

"See, things are coming back already," she said.

Fister said she wishes she could be here to see the forest begin to regenerate.

"In two months, the changes will be real heartening," she said. "It's like a rebirth."