Visiting Brown’s Creek Trail in South Reno is a bit like Dorothy returning to Kansas from Oz, when the vibrant palette of the world suddenly shifts to monotone.

The trailhead, south of Mount Rose Highway, looks as it has for years — a gravel pullout with a kiosk surrounded by towering pines — as does the first half mile or so of trail. But then, the forest turns brown, its brush burned and its trees charred. Further along, the landscape is a sheet of gray.

Brown’s Creek was one of the areas devastated by the 2024 Davis Fire that burned nearly 6,000 acres and caused more than $9 million in property damage in south Reno. After months of investigation, officials announced Thursday that the blaze was caused by an improperly doused campfire. Campfires are not allowed at the day use area of Davis Creek Park, where the fire originated. The day was also windy with low humidity, and the National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning urging caution around activities that could start a fire. 

The trail’s destruction is the loss of an incredibly scenic recreation area. The roughly 5-mile-long lollipop-shaped trail crosses Brown’s Creek, which flows year-round. A vista area once offered hikers a peek through towering pine trees toward Washoe Valley. Before it burned, the trail wound near an aspen grove that rustled in summer breezes and signaled to hikers the approach of fall with its yellowing leaves.

Now, the aspen trees are skeletons, as are many of the surrounding pines. The most heavily burned portion of the trail, formerly a manzanita-covered slope, is now a barren hillside dotted by spindly stems. From the vista point, hikers are greeted with a charred hillside.

The trail, and the hiking experience it offers, isn’t what it once was. Instead, it offers something different — a unique and intimate opportunity for Northern Nevada hikers to witness the destruction of, and regrowth, following a wildfire.

‘Nature wins’ 

Much of the Davis Fire burned in what the U.S. Forest Service calls a “mosaic pattern” — pockets of severe burning interspersed with patches of light and moderate burning.

In very low to low burn severity areas, soil quality deteriorates and the overstory experiences some canopy damage, but the areas can often quickly bounce back.

In moderately burned areas, almost all groundcover and brush is burned, trees are dead and fallen, and the tree canopy is mostly gone. 

And in areas that have experienced high-severity burns, soil is damaged, unable to absorb water, its minerals and nutrients burned away. The tree canopy is completely consumed.

The post-fire Brown’s Creek Trail offers hikers the chance to see those varying levels of severity up close. 

Those different levels of fire damage also determine what returns and when, said Kendal Young, natural resource planning staff officer for the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest.

“The best fires are those fires that have these different mosaics of burn severity — that gives us the greatest diversity when it starts coming back,” Young said. 

Even though the Brown’s Creek area burned less than a year ago, there are signs of life along the trail — native grasses, wildflowers and seedlings emerging from the dirt and ash, and groups such as the Sugar Pine Foundation have hosted replanting efforts on private land that burned in the fire. The Forest Service will be doing work as well, Young said, but that process is slower due to necessary environmental reviews. 

Regrowth hinges not just on burn severity, but factors such as drought, erosion and heavy storms, said James Steed, resource program manager at the Nevada Division of Forestry.

But with the right conditions — something Steed called “that Goldilocks area” — significant understory growth at Brown’s Creek could return in 15 years, and dominant conifer trees another 15 years after. 

“On a long enough timeline, nature wins,” Steeds said. “It’s a complex system — there’s so much going on. Fire is such a blessing and such a curse.”

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In the weeds:

Energy credits buoy utility — NV Energy has exceeded state-mandated renewable energy requirements, pulling almost 47 percent of its energy from renewable sources and energy efficiency measures last year.

But compliance was boosted because of an expiring provision that allows the utility to apply energy efficiency credits toward its reported total — without those credits, the utility produced just 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, according to the Nevada Current.

The state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), originally passed by the Legislature in 1997, sets the percentage of electricity sold by public utilities that must come from renewable sources or through energy efficiency measures. Credits are generated by the production of renewable energy and can then be bought or sold to meet compliance with the RPS.

The RPS standard was set at 22 percent for 2020 and is set to incrementally increase to 50 percent by 2030. Last year’s requirement was 34 percent, which NV Energy fell short of without the credits.

Starting this year, no portion of the utility’s compliance with the RPS can come from energy efficiency measures (if the RPS is not met, state energy regulators can issue fines or take other action). 

Clean air exemptions — Two Nevada facilities are included on a map showing more than 500 facilities nationwide that emit toxic or hazardous air pollution that could receive exemptions from Clean Air Act compliance.

In March, the Environmental Protection Agency set up a mechanism for certain companies to apply for exemptions, allowing the president to potentially excuse them from compliance for up to two years if he finds the plants’ ongoing operations are in the interest of the nation’s security. 

Compiled by a cohort of environmental groups, the map includes Elite Spice, Inc. in Washoe County, and Lhoist North America Apex Plant in Clark County, which manufactures the industrial mineral lime.

Ouch, I’ve been bit! — Northern Nevada Public Health is scaling back its aerial mosquito abatement efforts via helicopter because of budget cuts and funding uncertainty. 

Helicopter abatement previously was performed four to five times throughout the spring and summer months, costs about $2,000 per hour, excluding larvicide and fuel. The health board estimates eliminating the treatments will save about $260,000 this year. 

Scott Oxarart, spokesperson for Northern Nevada Public Health, said it’s hard to predict if there will be negative health effects from the change, and that hand treatments will still be applied and drones will be used for emergency spot treatments. 

Mosquito abatement decreases the chances of insect-borne diseases such as West Nile Virus; since 2020, there has only been one case of West Nile Virus in Washoe County.

Old-school campground gets a refresh — Bob Scott Campground off Highway 50 southeast of Austin will be closed into August for renovations. 

The renovation will update the campground, “designed for a 1960s camping experience,” to better accommodate modern campers and allow the facility to open earlier in the spring and stay open later in the fall, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Crews will upgrade the campground’s water system, pave roads and parking pads, build tent pads and replace restrooms. Access roads and dispersed camping in the area will also be unavailable during construction. 

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ICYMI:

Tax credits helped boost Nevada's solar industry. Now it's on Trump's chopping block

‘Political realities’ killed Nevada bill that would permanently fund wildlife crossings

Lack of notice for resolution supporting Clark County Lands Bill draws opponents’ ire

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Here’s what else I’m reading (and listening to) this week:

SF Gate recounts how two female botanists risked everything to raft the Grand Canyon in 1938.

And in another look back at the past, here’s a collection of historic photos of Lake Mead and Hoover Dam compiled by the The Arizona Republic. 

Colorado River cuts should be shared basinwide, longtime water experts say in a new report from The Colorado Sun. 

A British man begins the home stretch of his 27-year, round-the-world walk, from Explorersweb. 

USA Today breaks down Trump's proposal to cut $1 billion from national parks and transfer many sites to states.

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A closer look:

Mojave Max, the popular desert tortoise who resides at the Springs Preserve and is Southern Nevada’s version of Punxsutawney Phil, has not yet emerged from brumation (reptilian hibernation), breaking his previous emergence record of April 24, 2023. The tortoise, who is sequestered in a deep burrow, has remained in brumation because of low air and ground temperatures.

This story was updated at 11 a.m. on 5/8/25 to update the cause of the Davis Fire.