LEFT IN THE AFTERMATH SURVEYING FIRE'S DAMAGE TO NATURE.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA WOODLANDS - On Sunday morning, as they took their first walk through Towsley Canyon since last week's devastating Simi Valley Fire, park officials found both the good and the bad as they wound up the trail.

For the next few days, staff from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority will be assessing the hazards that the fires left behind, from damaged trees with limbs hanging precariously to embers still smoldering four days after the flames swept through Towsley Canyon.

``It was 150 degrees in here,'' said Rorie Skei, chief deputy director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, stepping over downed power lines and watching overhead for weakened tree limbs. ``You never know when a branch is going to come down. We can't let people in here until we're sure it's safe.''

A handful of hikers nonchalantly acknowledged their trespasses, one woman walking with her two young children and a beagle carrying a charred quail in its mouth.

Hikers were turned back from the Santa Clarita Woodlands gate by members of the volunteer mountain bike unit on Sunday, pointing out the locked gates and signs that advise its closure because of fire danger.

As Skei and Wendy Langhans, the conservancy's director of volunteer services, walked up the trail taking note of the damage, Skei noticed a hollowed-out walnut tree trunk still smoldering.

``Some oaks still have green on them; we may see things here we have never seen before,'' Skei said, turning to Langhans and speculating on the wildflowers that might bloom in the spring. ``Look for silver eardrops and scarlet delpheniums to come up. It will definitely be an interesting wildflower spring,'' she said.

``This should all come back quickly,'' she continued, pointing toward a meadow of young valley oaks and cottonwoods. ``The fire cleaned out the bad stuff.''

Crows and ravens kept away larger birds, such as red-tailed hawks and buzzards, with flocks of the black birds circling overhead.

As the women walked toward the Nature Center building in Towsley, they marveled at what was burned and, more often, what was spared. Scorched earth came up to the edge of the ranger quarters, which remained intact.

The only casualty at the park facility was a shed located behind the pool area that used to secure weed whackers and a lawn mower. The remains of a bobcat, frozen in flight, sat near the melted tires of destroyed vehicles.

As the women walked further up the trail, there were surprised exclamations from both.

``I've never seen the riverbed before,'' Skei said. Trees that used to provide camouflage for conservancy vehicles are now gone, making Langhans note to clean up the yard where the vehicles are kept.

``There's nothing to hide that now,'' she said.

After the 1993 Topanga Fire, Skei said, fire protection and preparation became a priority of the conservancy.

``We realized we needed to have our own resources to protect park structures because we couldn't expect the other agencies that were protecting homes to stretch their resources,'' she said. ``We invested in pumper trucks, foam and training to be ready. In this particular disaster, having trained personnel on hand was the key to our survival.''

More than 36 Mountains Recreation and Conservancy Authority staff were deployed in Mentryville, Towsley and East Canyon during the worst of the fires, working with other fire agencies to protect buildings and minimize the damage to landscape and wildlife.

As breezes carried the smell of brush fire out of the canyons near The Narrows, the only sounds came from birds plaintively crying from the naked branches of the trees. A lone ground squirrel, chased by crows, streaked across the hillside, but no other wildlife was seen.

Skei said they were holding out hope that the larger animals had been able to escape through a trail in Gavin Canyon near the junction of the Golden State and Antelope freeways to find refuge in an area known as ``Gates Triangle.''

When a visitor walking slightly off the trail noticed indentations in the soft ground, she asked Langhans if they could be tracks. Sprinting back to where the visitor stood, Langhans burst into a large smile.

``They're tracks all right. Not sure if it's bobcat or something bigger.''

Skei walked up to consult with Langhans, and they both agreed that a coyote was the critter leaving the footprints.

``Takes a lot to kill those guys,'' she said.

Part of Towsley's recovery efforts will include bringing in a team of archaeologists to make sure no artifacts have been revealed by the brush-clearing blaze. In addition, the damage done to the resource by bulldozers and the vehicular traffic required to fight the fire will be assessed.

In all the destruction, both Skei and Langhans found optimism. The ground cleared by the fire, the seed pods from things like black walnut and oak scattered by the firestorm and the soaking rain that blanketed the canyons over the weekend, all add up to quick revegetation.

``And now, you get a good view of the rock formations,'' Langhans said.

``This is one big research project that will be going on for years,'' Skei said. ``We hope it doesn't change the species composition, but this does offer new opportunities for species to colonize and nest.''

``The decomposers will have a field day, that's for sure,'' she added, glancing overhead at the circling birds.

Conservancy staff is already looking toward the future and making the fire into a teaching tool.

``As soon as we can get this (park) open safely, we will be going on some reservation hikes,'' Langhans said. ``We'll have our interpretive staff take people up, and they'll be able to learn firsthand about fire ecology, what they see now and what they can expect to see.''

Skei said that as early as next week hillsides could start showing signs of laurel sumac blooms where once sage and mule fat grew.

``This is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see what a burned canyon looks like,'' Langhans said. ``It looks dead, but it's not. We'll all get a chance to see it recover.''

All programs at Mentryville, Towsley, Rice and East Canyons have been canceled until further notice. Call [phone], Ext. 190 for updated information.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The remains of a bobcat frozen in its death are found in the barn next to the Towsley Canyon Ranger Station, in the aftermath of the Simi Valley Fire.

(2 -- color) Rorie Skei, left, and Wendy Langhans of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy examine charred oak trees Sunday.

(3 -- color) Skei calls the park's recovery from the fire ``one big research project that will be going on for years.''

(4) Ken Nelso, a deputy sheriff and part-time fire mechanic at the ranger station, gathers up a hose used to shoot foam on the fire.

(5) The hand of Wendy Langhans holds up what's left of a tennis ball caught in the intense heat of last week's fire.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer