Last week's fire in the Organ Mountains left behind a partially-devasted high desert landscape. These normally pale-green prickly pear cacti have been toasted by searing flames.
The fire spread rapidly through this dry desert grassland, destroying yuccas, sotols, prickly pears and other cacti.
A desolate landscape in the foreground, with an ancient sotol--now charred into a statuesque ember--gives stark testament to the destructive force of fire; the untouched grassland in the background provides an interesting yardstick with which to measure the desert's recuperative power. How long will it take this area to regenerate?
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