"As wildfires surge through some of the most treasured landscapes in the nation, two new studies show that supercharged blazes make it harder for forests to recover."
"When Jonathan Coop was a child growing up in northern New Mexico, the Jemez Mountains were a playground of towering volcanic cliffs and expansive conifer forests. Hiking trails were carpeted with sweet-smelling needles. Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir kept the mountainsides shady and cool.
But in 2011, the Las Conchas Fire ripped through the landscape, breaking what was then the record for largest blaze in state history. The fire was so extreme it killed nearly every conifer across thousands of acres of land. In the aftermath — made hotter and drier by human-caused warming — many species were unable to re-germinate. New plants began to colonize the empty space, including stunted oaks and invasive weeds.
“Now it looks like a few little black matchsticks in landscape of shrubs and grass,” said Coop, now an ecologist at Western Colorado University. “The forest was basically just erased off the map.”"
Sarah Kaplan reports for the Washington Post October 7, 2026.
