Periodically nature brings in fire to rejuevenate these heavily browsed plants. After a fire, bitterbrush over time either rapidly resprouts a plant from the rootcollar at the base of the burned branches, or it sprouts from seed that in many cases has been buried by rodents. If resprouting is to occur it usually happens the next Spring after the fire and deer food is ready right away. Notice you just do not see many shribs in that photo. In the meantime the spring green-up on these burns can be a good forage supply if deer can find the bitterbrush forage they need to get them through the winter.
Biologists know that everything is cyclic in the natural scheme of things.
Sometimes the cycles take longer than we would like and in many cases we have little control over such cycles. Today the Inyo National Forest is beginning to use prescribed fire as a management tool to reduce the chance of large fires occuring. Our goal is to manage important wildlife habitat areas such as key deer winter ranges, bighorn sheep winter ranges, riparian areas, and oak hardwood groves to perpetuate these habitats while still allowing fire to once again play its role on the landscape. Look for prescribed burns to be occuring on several areas of the Forest. The bottom photo is a prescribed burn conducted last October at Division Creek northwest of Independence in the Sierra foothills.