A scene that tells a story. Taken just outside the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, this young bull gave me a nice pose by a trail sign. Behind him, the evidence of the East Troublesome Fire provides a stark contrast.
While the elk were abundant last week and seemed to have plenty to graze on, the trees were burned and stripped of any signs of green. Those trees that provide much-needed shelter for a wide variety of wildlife from little birds to big mammals can no longer provide help.
While the animals will likely adapt or simply migrate to areas that were not burned, it will not be easy and it will be decades before these forests look like they did just last year at this same time
