Opal Creek wilderness shows signs of recovery 5 years after Beachie Creek fire

Five years after the devastating 2020 Beachie Creek fire , signs of life are returning to Oregon’s treasured Opal Creek wilderness.

Wildfire filmmaker Ralph Bloemers set up trail cameras in the wilderness east of Salem to illustrate forest and wildlife recovery after the fire burned nearly 200,000 acres in and around Opal Creek.

Over the past five years, the cameras have captured images of bobcats, cougars, black bears, foxes, deer and elk, signaling that the ecosystem is beginning to support a complex food web once more.

The video also shows time-lapse footage over multiple seasons of vegetation re-growth on the forest floor.

Here’s more to know about Opal Creek and the 2020 Labor Day wildfires that burned the area :

The fire caused catastrophic devastation

The 2020 Beachie C