The long-overdue maintenance of the perimeter fire lane on the north tract got a little out of hand.
The tractor also plowed though an area where the rare and endangered scrub lupine seedlings were growing and where new seedlings are emerging at this time of year.
Fortunately, some of the lupines escaped the blade and the disk and may survive to flower and to produce seed as part of a long-term effort to determine whether a sustainable population of McFarlin's Lupine can be re-established here.
In an area where a dormant natural seed bank was awakened, five seedlings have emerged so far.
Maybe some of them will survive to maturity.
For some reason, the survival rate for this species of lupine is low.
