Blackwood Wines Helping Island Foxes

Protecting Channel Island foxes is a community effort. 

In the wake of the historic Santa Rosa Island wildfire, a local winery has stepped in to help island foxes.

Blackwood Wines is a small winery run by husband and wife duo, Patrick and Emma. Only making a couple of barrels per year, they say "our goal is to create and share our favorite styles of wines with our favorite people: friends and family."

 

Blackwood Wines and Bolt To Wines Island Fox Chardonnay

Their Island Fox Chardonnay is a collaboration with their friends at Bolt To Wines! The chardonnay is a blend of two vineyard sites in the Santa Rita Hills, which "come together beautifully to remind one of a French chardonnay."

Patrick & Emma say: "To help support conservation, education and recovery efforts after the fire, all profits from the sales of our 2024 Collaboration Chardonnay through the end of June will be donated to the "Island Fox - Fire Fund" managed by the Friends of the Island Fox."

To find out more visit blackwoodwines.com or follow them on Instagram @blackwoodwines 

Good News - Near Containment of Santa Rosa Island Fire

As of Tuesday, May 26, 2026 – The wildfire on Santa Rosa Island is 97% contained !

A historic 18,837 acres were burned, making this the largest wildfire recorded across the California Channel Islands.

Santa Rosa Island May 25, 2026

 

A huge thank you to the firefighters that fought and contained this fire. In places were firebreaks were carved out by small earth-moving equipment, efforts have been made to mitigate environmental disturbance–like the wattle rolls placed on the hillside in the above photo from US Wildfire.gov.

As the firefighting wraps up, we hope to hear from scientists on the ground about island foxes and other Santa Rosa Island species.

For official wildfire reports and additional photos: 

link https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cacnp-santa-rosa-island-fire  

Drone images flying over Santa Rosa Island Torrey pines and other still photos and maps can by found at the link above. 

Santa Rosa Fire Update - Sat., May 23, 2026

As the updated incident map from U.S. Wildland Fire Service shows, the edge of the active fire has been contained to the areas of bold red line. (Click on image to go to link.) The fire is considered to be 72% containment. Firefighting aircraft have been released, though they remain available if needed. The active fire edge and hot spots will be the focus over the weekend.

Drone footage of the rare Santa Rosa Island Torrey pine grove has been made public at:

https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-videos-gallery/cacnp-santa-rosa-island-fire

The videos provide hopeful images of pines still standing.

Information on island foxes will not be available until the firefighting effort has concluded. FIF hopes to have more information, soon.

While the active fire seems to be coming under control, this has become the largest fire documented in modern times on the California Channel Islands with 18,379 acres burned.

Island fox footprints

 

 

Update on Santa Rosa Fire and Island Foxes

 

As of Thursday, May 21, 2026:

The fire on Santa Rosa Island has now burned 17,554 acres, but is reported to be 44% contained. Specific news on wildlife and rare plants remains limited. This is what we know:

Official report from government agencies 5/21/26 on the fire (https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cacnp-santa-rosa-island-fire)

Highlights: Increased humidity has assisted firefighting. Today firefighters along the western fire edge are concentrating on the Cloud Forest area and working south. The fire has passed through Water Canyon, but damage to the campground was minimal. 

According the official report: "Resource Advisors continue working alongside firefighters to ensure that sensitive species and the island's cultural assets are accommodated as effectively as possible throughout firefighting operations." 

The Santa Barbara Independent reports that members of the Chumash Fire Department have joined the firefighting effort and will work with Resource Advisors on protecting Chumash cultural resources.

Containment lines are being established along Telephone Road in the area of Cherry Canyon.  

Regarding island foxes:

Like the rest of us, NPS biologists are watching the firefighting effort from the mainland. They hope to check on the status of collared foxes as soon as possible. From a small plane they will fly over the island searching for the signals of radio-collared island foxes and accessing survivorship. 

Once it is safe for biologists to return to the island, they'll be able to determine what their population wide response and capacity will be.  

Fire of this size on Santa Rosa is unprecedented since the island became part of the National Park and the full impact may not be known until island-wide island fox monitoring takes place later this summer.

When FIF has more info on specific needs for Santa Rosa Island foxes, we will post it here on islandfox.org and through our social media. 

 

Grove of Santa Rosa Torrey Pines (at right, along ridge) before the fire.

Regarding the Torrey Pines:

The fire is believed to have burned quickly through the stand of rare Santa Rosa Island Torrey pines. In 2015, approximately 10,000 pines were counted in the single grove. Fire has not accessed these trees since the National Park was established. Firefighters report that the fire burned less intensely as it came down the slope. Preliminary firefighter reports are that pines are still standing and the grove remains. The full extent of the damage, however, will not be known until ecologists and tree experts can access the island.

Fire brings mixed impacts  

  

Fire Burning on Santa Rosa Island Impacts Island Foxes

image source: CalFire Santa Rosa Island 2026-05-19 at 3.41.57

 

As of 4:30 pm Tuesday, May 19, the wildfire on Santa Rosa Island continues to burn. CalFire estimates 16,938 acres have burned so far. The fire is being fought by federal fire fighters and, today, winds have decreased allowing aircraft to assist with firefighting. (CalFire is not fighting this fire, but their website is posting updates)

While the ignition of the wildfire is officially under investigation, the blaze was most likely human-caused. Early Friday morning, flames spread quickly through dry grassland vegetation. 

photo source: USCG Air Station Ventura Coast

 

When similar wildfire events have occurred on other Channel Islands, adult island foxes have been able to flee the fire's edge and survive. (Burnie Boots - 2007) We are hopeful that the same will be true in this case.

Unfortunately, pups born in April are currently in dens and not able to flee. In other spring-time wildfire events, pups did not survive. It is highly likely that fox pups in the fire zone will be lost.

Santa Rosa Island foxes are currently at carrying capacity for the island. The 2025 population was estimated at over 2,000 individuals. While this will most likely cause a temporary decline in the island population, island foxes and island spotted skunks have shown resilience to wildfire. Following smaller wildfire events both species have been quick to return to burned territories and able to find food resources. 

Santa Rosa is the only island were island foxes are currently monitored and studied with GPS collars. These GPS-collared individuals may provide insight into exactly how island foxes react in the face of wildfire. This data may help us understand what is important for them to survive fire events.

Island fox on Santa Rosa Island

Our thoughts are with our National Park friends as they work to protect rare plants, like the Santa Rosa Island Torrey pine and other endemic island species, and to preserve infrastructure that enables biologists and researchers to study the island ecosystem.