Wildflowers in Mount Hood After the Dollar Lake Fire

*Wildflowers in the Mount Hood Wilderness*

In September 2011, the Dollar Lake fire ravaged the northern forest of Mount Hood, burning 6,200 acres of land. 9 years later, the remnants of the fire are obvious in the “Ghost Forest” of burned trees and bleached wood. But below the sadness sits a promise of hope. Wildflowers fill the forest floor, reaching to the sun that now kisses their petals without the canopy of leaves. One of the most important species is fireweed. Appropriately named, fireweed is known to be the first to grow in the soil after a forest fire. It has roots that spread horizontally underground, helping to stabilize the soil while shooting tall flowering arms up to 9 feet high. A single fireweed plant produces an average of 80,000 seeds per year which spread with the wind to help coat the affected land. It is a huge attractor of pollinators which in turn

I’ve read that it will take an area burned by fire more than a century to recover. With more and more fires affecting our forests, we are losing nature at pace much faster than it can recover.