Half of a nearly 6,000-acre reserve managed by UC Santa Barbara has burned from the Lake Fire. The Sedgwick Reserve near Santa Ynez has been a hub for educational, public and conservational research programs since 1997, and it’s home to many animal species.
Nikki Evans is the outreach and communications specialist for the reserve. She said some birds have lost their nesting areas, while others are eating seeds that have come from the burned trees.
“Like anything in nature, it's not all good or all bad. It's going to complicate things in a lot of ways and create other niches and opportunities in other ways,” Evans said.
Evans said animals living on the land will possibly be moving to find new habitats and predators like hawks will be able to scout for prey easier. She said organizations including the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network are looking for wildlife impacted or injured by the flames.
Not only did the fire affect local animals on the reserve — its also burned trees at the site and affected research opportunities. Evans said the burned vegetation will likely change the course of future projects.
“I think there's gonna be a lot of really interesting research opportunities that come out of this as well, to look at the regrowth in some of these areas,” Evans said.
Reserve personnel are assessing the damage and its impacts on research projects. The site’s crew is also working to repair damage to allow researchers back into the reserve quickly.
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the Lake Fire. As of Wednesday morning, it was at 42% containment and had burned a total of 38,653 acres near Zaca Lake, according to local emergency officials. More than 3,200 personnel are working to put it out and no further growth is anticipated.
