Before the fire, an average of 22.5 sage sparrows were detected in visits to the fire area, but only one sage sparrow was spotted during a check after the fire. Those birds could be competing to survive in the limited amount of other sage-covered areas or could have died because they tend to stay in their nesting territories. The BAER report also considered damage to archaeological and historic sites in the burned area. They include American Indian hunting sites and spirit quest monuments and settlers' ranch buildings vacated when the federal government took over the land during World War II for the nuclear reservation and a buffer zone around it. The report recommends increased patrolling of the national monument because looters sometimes target areas exposed by fires.
Relics are easier to find once vegetation is removed.
The fire not only destroyed the rare shrub-steppe habitat and exposed archaeological sites, but also left nearly all the fine sandy and silty soils in the burn area at risk of wind erosion. Signs to warn off blowing dust and a drift fence to keep dust off area highways also are recommended by the report. An additional report also is expected by an independent federal team reviewing efforts to control the fire. It's due at the end of the month. However, Benton County commissioners were skeptical Monday that the additional report would answer their questions about how the fire got out of hand.