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PLATTSBURGH — An intense wildfire ravaged 90 acres of rugged forestland on the shoulder of Noonmark Mountain in the Adirondack High Peaks a decade ago.

The remnants of that blaze can still be seen, with countless dead trees lying flat on the ground, serving as a memorial to the fire.

But nature has already re-staked its claim on the scorched landscape as new plant species begin to take root.

"This was one of the largest wildfires in the Adirondacks in recent decades," Plattsburgh State Environmental Sciences Professor Kenneth Adams said as he talked about an ongoing study his students have been involved in at Noonmark.

"In this modern era of fire prevention and suppression, a 90-acre wildfire is very unusual but makes for some wonderful opportunities for scientific study."

STARTED BY CAMPERS
The inferno, started by hikers who failed to properly extinguish a campfire, killed all of the vegetation along the ridge leading to the Noonmark summit.

The blaze was fueled by extremely dry conditions from a summer-long drought.

In fact, the blaze was so hot that tree roots were burned, causing them to fall to the ground in charred heaps.

The forest consisted mostly of white birch, balsam fir and red spruce trees. All three species are extremely flammable under the right conditions, Adams said.

But what makes the region even more remarkable for scientific study is that the same area was the focal point of a huge forest fire in 1903 that ripped through Keene Valley and destroyed thousands of acres.

"It's quite unusual to have an area burned by wildfire twice in the same century," Adams said. "After the 1903 fire, a new mature forest developed in its place."

YEAR BY YEAR
In 2000, Adams first began taking students to the site to study what was happening to the forest ecology following the fire.

"That first year, the site was covered with ash," he recalled. "Downed trees were all over the place. They looked like large pickup sticks someone had thrown about."

Still, life had already returned to the mountainside as Adams's class identified numerous mosses growing amongst the devastation.

Each year, more and more seedlings of various species took root, he added, noting that aspen, white birch and fire cherry were the major newcomers, though neither he nor the students could find any mature aspen stands nearby.

"Some people think of fire as a destroyer, but it is both a destroyer and an agent of renewal," Adams said.

And that is what makes this site special.

VIVID LESSONS
"For me, when you're able to go out and see something like this first-hand, it provides such a different perspective from what you get in a textbook," said Shaun Kittle, an ecology major at Plattsburgh State enrolled in this semester's forest ecology class.

"The only way to really learn about this kind of new growth is to go out and see it. All the written words in the world can't take the place of what is taking place in front of you."

Getting to the remote site is not easy, but Kittle has a fondness for Adirondack hiking and found the visit to Noonmark exciting and rewarding.

"We had a great time. It teaches you how to work together, and you're working with people who have like interests. Everyone was really enthusiastic."

In years to come, the Noonmark fire area will fade in memory and will eventually be lost beneath the new forest.

But for students in the forest ecology, it will always be a part of their classroom experience.



E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com