#sierra-nevada

#sierra-nevada

The Pack Fire burning near Crowley Lake on the eastern slope of California's Sierra Nevada, about 20 miles east of Mammoth Mountain, has grown to 3,400 acres with no containment as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire. The wildfire ignited Thursday afternoon near McGee Creek Road, west of Highway 395, under strong winds and dry conditions. Officials reported gusts up to 30 mph, which grounded firefighting aircraft and complicated suppression efforts through much of Thursday.

Out of the 42 relatively common bird species in the study - including the mountain quail, green-tailed towhee, fox sparrow and lazuli bunting - each responded to fires a bit differently over time. For 11 species, population density increased and remained higher in the burned areas, with little or no signals of slowing down, even 35 years after a fire. For nine species, these benefits lasted longer than 20 years. For the rest, the benefits lasted less than two decades, or they showed little response at

Nestled at the base of the soaring Sierra Nevada mountains, the small town of Bishop, California, has autumn views that rival leaf-peeping destinations the world over. This rugged little mountain town is located in Owens Valley on Highway 395, near landmark destinations such as Death Valley National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Mount Whitney (the tallest point in the contiguous United States).

A yellow hose runs past the foot of giant sequoias in the Sierra National Forest, and sprinklers drench the forest floor. Those sprinklers are among the last line of defense installed by firefighters to protect giant sequoias in the McKinley Grove from flames, as thunderstorms continue to drive growth on the 29,718-acre Garnet Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada. "The fire is roughly three miles southeast of the grove's southern edge," said Joe Zwierzchowski, the public information officer assigned to the Garnet Fire, in an email to SFGATE on Tuesday afternoon.