Mojave Desert’s iconic Joshua trees engulfed in massive wildfire

A fierce wildfire raging across California and Nevada has devastated tens of thousands of acres within a biodiverse national preserve, leaving its signature Joshua trees scorched.

The York Fire, now California’s largest blaze of the year, has already charred over 82,000 acres as of Wednesday, according to fire officials. It ignited on Friday in California’s Mojave National Preserve and spread into Nevada by Sunday.

The fire is tearing through Joshua tree groves—these distinctive, spiny plants of the Mojave Desert, some of which can survive for over 150 years.

Several of these majestic trees have already succumbed to the flames, confirmed Marc Peebles, a spokesperson for California’s incident management team, to Dinogo on Wednesday.

The Mojave National Preserve is a crucial biodiversity hotspot, with one conservationist referring to it as the ‘crown jewel’ of Southern California’s deserts. Joshua trees are found only in the Desert Southwest and northern Mexico, and one of the densest groves of these iconic trees lies within the area affected by the fire, said Cody Hanford, executive director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust.

“We’re facing devastating consequences for possibly millions of Joshua trees,” Hanford remarked. “The fire is having a catastrophic impact on the landscape’s vegetation.”

The exact number of Joshua trees and other plant and animal species lost to the fire remains unknown, according to a spokesperson for the Mojave Preserve. Rangers will conduct aerial and ground surveys once the fire is contained to assess the full extent of the damage.

When the fire first ignited, it was intensified by extreme conditions that created dangerous fire whirls and towering 20-foot flames, making the blaze both hard to control and hazardous for responders.

Following several rounds of rain from Monday night through Wednesday morning, firefighters were able to make significant headway along the fire's perimeter, bringing it to 30% containment by Wednesday morning.

However, the damage to the landscape will endure long after the flames are extinguished.

“It will take a lifetime for mature Joshua trees to regenerate,” said Laura Cunningham, the California director of the Western Watersheds Project, in an interview with Dinogo affiliate KVVU. “Some trees are fire-resistant, and if the fire isn’t too intense, they may sprout from the stump or reseed.”

“This is truly devastating,” Cunningham added.

Over the last decade, the frequency of fires in the Mojave National Preserve has risen, driven by a combination of wetter winters and the spread of invasive grasses, according to fire officials on Inciweb, the official fire data platform for the U.S.

The National Park Service warns that when areas with Joshua trees are burned, the majority of them do not survive, making it much harder for the trees to reproduce. Wildfires also pose a risk to the park’s priceless resources, including historical buildings and cultural artifacts.

In 2020, a wildfire burned through 43,273 acres of the Joshua tree forest at Cima Dome in California, destroying up to 1.3 million Joshua trees and creating a vast plant graveyard, according to the National Park Service.

Amidst the scorching desert heat, firefighters battling the spread of the York Fire in the Mojave National Preserve are part of a larger team of over 11,000 wildland firefighters and support staff deployed nationwide, according to the National Interagency Fire Center on Tuesday.

As persistent hot and dry conditions continue across the U.S., 67 active, large fires are burning in 11 states. By Tuesday, over 1.1 million acres had been scorched in 2023, the center reported.

Emerging desert tortoises present a unique challenge for fire management.

Firefighters received some relief from a brief but heavy downpour early Tuesday, with more rain expected on Wednesday as they fought to contain the York Fire.

However, rain in the Mojave Desert, which is both infrequent and seasonal, creates a distinct challenge for firefighting efforts, according to the Mojave National Preserve.

Desert tortoises, which are federally recognized as a threatened species, become particularly active during wet summer days, emerging from their burrows to drink the fresh rainwater.

Fire crews are tasked with carefully balancing fire suppression efforts and protecting resources. They remain vigilant for desert tortoises, ensuring they avoid burrows and any active tortoises they may encounter, according to the Mojave National Preserve.

Fortunately, most desert wildlife is able to find safety when a fire draws near, as park officials noted.

Mojave National Preserve resource staff believe the York Fire has caused minimal damage to critical tortoise habitats and likely impacted few individuals, given that sightings of tortoises in the fire-affected area are rare.