Called It!

Remember when I observed that the fires at Soldiers Delight would probably be good for its rare and fire-sculpted ecosystem?

We can already see signs of aggressive regrowth.

Driving to her uncle’s house near Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area on Friday, Amy Kozak couldn’t help but to stop her car at a park overlook and get out to survey the damage.

It had been more than a week since a brush fire April 4 scorched hundreds of acres of the unique grassland ecosystem near Owings Mills. But flashing roadside signs still warned passing motorists on Deer Park Road that they might see smoke rising from hot spots on the landscape.

But gazing out over the charred terrain last week, she already saw signs of hope. Blades of grass were shooting up from the blackened ground, evidence that regrowth had begun.

(emphasis mine)

I drove the road the other day, and unfortunately forgot to take pictures.

What stood out for me is that most of the larger trees looked likely to survive.

Of course, this was largely serpentine grassland, so there were not a large number of trees to begin with, but it was an intense ground fire, grass and brush burning hot and fast.

Officials from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, who initially estimated the fire’s spread at some 700 acres, have revised that down by more than half. That estimate was made using drone footage of the blaze, said Chris Smith, fire manager for the Maryland Forest Service, which falls under DNR.

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Soldiers Delight’s singularity is defined in many ways by its geology. It is underlain by serpentinite, a green-hued bedrock that is rich in minerals such as chromium and magnesium, but does not contain much of the nutrients that many plants need to survive. The result is a barren Baltimore County vista with the look of an African savanna, covered in tall grasses, wildflowers and sparse clusters of oak trees that are all adapted to the adverse conditions.

Serpentine grasslands used to dot Central Maryland, occupying stretches of territory in Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, according to a map that hangs in the Soldiers Delight Visitor Center. But now, as a result of development, mining and changing conditions, only a few enclaves remain in the state. At 1,900 acres, Soldiers Delight is the largest serpentine landscape in eastern North America, and contains 39 rare, threatened or endangered plant species, according to DNR.

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Soldiers Delight is an ecosystem well acquainted with fire, said Paula Becker, a natural resource biologist with DNR’s Natural Heritage Program. Its native plant life, including post and blackjack oak trees and various prairie grasses like little bluestem, are fire-adapted, meaning they’re equipped with mechanisms to survive fire — or even thrive because of it.

The problem is: Those species aren’t the only ones inhabiting Soldiers Delight. In fact, the natural area is in the throes of a decadeslong battle against non-native plants, namely Virginia pine trees and greenbrier, a climbing vine with thorny stems.

“Both Virginia pine and greenbrier are decidedly not fire-tolerant,” Becker said. “They both burn — as we have seen — exceedingly hot. And that’s one of the reasons that the fire at Soldiers Delight this past week was so intense.”

During the blaze, greenbrier growing on tree trunks effectively acted as a fire ladder, guiding the flames higher onto vulnerable pine and oak trees.