August 2007

CATALINA’S HIDDEN TREASURES
Wildflowers will once again blanket the burn area

"Nature on the Island has dramatically changed over the past two centuries. Much of its biological richness has been lost in time. Yet there remains a treasure trove of magical secrets hiding in Catalina's earth, waiting for the right moment to emerge, to help nature smile like it hasn't smiled in centuries. Locked away in the soil are millions of seeds, capable of returning the Island's delicate flowers, unique plant communities, and native animal populations to a richness that hasn't been seen in generations."

Richard W. Halsey, Director of the California Chaparral Institute

Catalina Island has had a rough spring. Rough in that the usual refreshing rains never really materialized. Of course the unseasonable dryness supplied the fuel for the man-made fire of May 10th that threatened the City of Avalon, destroyed one home and several warehouses, burned one half of the Laura Stein Volunteer Camp, the restrooms and storage shed at Haypress, and charred 4,750 acres of the Island's rugged Interior.

Now, in the dog days of summer, let's take a glance at nature's beauty, lying dormant, just underneath the earth, waiting for the rain that will eventually come.

Please click below to see the Island's beautiful wildflowers as photographed by
Denise Knapp, the Conservancy's Senior Plant Ecologist, and Jenny McCune and Lauren Danner, former Plant Ecologists. Captions are by Denise Knapp.

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