REGIONAL – Back in May a fire broke out at a hunting camp on the west side of the Shawangunk Ridge, down below the Roosa Gap State Forest near Summitville. Conditions were dry and windy and the fire soon spread up through the oak woods on the flanks of the mountain to the pitch pine forest on top. Years, indeed decades' worth of flammable debris littering the forest floor flamed up rapidly and burned hot. The smell of smoke was soon being reported in the streets of Ellenville, and over subsequent days it moved up the valley as far as Kingston.

In the end, about 2,400 acres burned while a giant operation to control and then extinguish the blaze was mounted to bring in firefighting equipment from all across the Mid-Hudson Valley and beyond. One firefighter died of a heart attack during the effort. The state called on Canada to lend an air-tanker, the first time one has been used in New York. Blackhawk helicopters shuttled back and forth to the fire with 660 gallon buckets from Lake Maratanza and Mud Pond for days.

When it was over a long brown scar was left on the ridge, clearly visible from both the air and to drivers on Route 209. The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced an investigation into the causes of the fire, with possible legal action to be taken against those who started it.

Now, months later, nature has responded. On the flanks of the ridge, where oak predominates, there are areas with nothing but burned and dead-looking trees. A little bit of greenery is getting going on the forest floor and above, on the ridgetop — where hard conglomerate underlies very shallow soils — the pitch pine forest appears largely intact. In some areas, where oaks and other trees had been growing, the small trees are all dead while beneath them a riot of fresh vegetation has sprung up. Here and there, older pitch pines are visible with black scorch marks two to three feet up their trunks. But above they're green, often with fresh needles.

Gabe Chapin, forest and fire ecologist at the Nature Conservancy, explained that what comes next is "a complicated process."

"That fire burned extremely hot since it had been a long time since there was a fire there," he said. "I expect the way it develops now will be similar to what we've seen in Minnewaska, following that fire in 2008."

It all depends on the trees, it seems.

"Some forest types, like the pitch pine forest, are better adapted to that kind of hot fire," Chapin continued. "In fact, pitch pines can have all their needs burned off and can still re-sprout from the branches and the crown of the tree. They're very resilient."

More changes can be expected that will give advantages to the pitch pines.

"One of the things we saw at Minnewaska was that a lot of competing vegetation was cleared away by the fire, producing more of an open habitat with higher diversity, more blueberries and more pitch pines," Chapin added, explaining that even oaks that look dead may yet come back to life. "Oaks are more resilient from fire than maples, and they can recover from that but you will see more mortality there. Occasionally, if they're scorched they can re-sprout from their canopy. And in some places trees will sprout from the ground up."

The changes that Chapin sees, broadly speaking, run, "from forest to shrub land and then over several decades back to forest again."

"Oak forest would typically experience more lower intensity fires," he said. "These act to keep the maples out. It burns through the underbrush, but doesn't really harm the canopy trees."

Survival of the oaks is vital for wildlife.

"About 96 different species depend on acorns at some point in the year," Chapin continued. "Deer, mice, blue jays... they are a very important resource. Especially in our forests where the chestnut has been wiped out and the beeches are in decline due to beech bark disease."

It turns out that throughout our forests the trees are actively competing for space. Chapin explains that maples provide ground litter that holds more moisture and they effectively shade out the competing young oaks. Where there are fires, the oaks survive, but the maples don't.

Meanwhile, in the burned-over areas the soil has been fertilized with the ash from the fire.

"There will be very vigorous shrubby growth for a few years," he concluded. "Blueberries will do very well in the cleared out space."

This is great news for our local bear population, of course.

Meanwhile, the latest word from the DEC is that no decision has yet been made regarding any legal consequences for those believed to have started the fire. It is still under examination, but "no tickets" have been issued.