Unfortunately, black bears came to the same conclusion. After I bumped into two in one day, I chose a more difficult path through the woods. The bears' apparent preference for a country cleared by avalanche supports an idea becoming popular with habitat researchers-landslides and avalanches aren't such bad things. Gordon Reeves and Kelly Burnett, fish biologists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, Oregon, have studied the effects of landslides on streams and fish. Though landslides turn a creek brown and clog it with other debris, such as large trees and rocks, what remains after a natural landslide may be beneficial to fish in the long run.
Logs provide shelter and feeding holes for fish, and rocks make good spawning areas.
Burnett says a natural landslide, unlike one caused by logging, is part of nature's cycle, a pulse of rapid change to a stream system that keeps habitat varied and healthy. Manmade landslides that occur after logging don't include enough big trees and occur too frequently to do fish any good, Burnett said. At least 30 people in Alaska have died this year due to avalanches, a constant hazard of mountain travel. In areas where the snow retreats, avalanche chutes often look like claw marks on the side of a mountain, the reminder of the incredible force stored on steep slopes. Though deadly if a person or animal happens to be in the chute at the wrong time, avalanches also seem to attract quite a bit of wildlife.