 Wildfire burned this area two weeks ago. This area burned three years ago by a fast-moving fire on a windy night. It's clear that the grasses were not killed by the blaze. Some of the broadleaf flowering plants became more abundant after the fire. The woody shrubs, such as sagebrush, did not fare so well. Many of the ponderosa pine were scorched, but most will survive and will recover. If we look closely, we can see the seedlings of shrubs beginning to recolonize the area. In a few years, the area will look much like it did before the fire. In this case, non-woody plants either survived the fire or receded it quickly from outside the area. They stabilized the place, protected from erosion, and began to rebuild the soil. Later, the woody plants take hold, achieving dominance over the pioneers that colonized the area after the fire. Eventually, the plant and animal community will resemble what was here before the fire. Nature's recovery from disturbances such as fire is an example of a process called secondary succession. If the disturbance is not too great, plants and the associated animals tend to replace themselves in a fairly predictable sequence, returning to a state similar to what was originally present. I'm Gene Gaid of the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.