The historic Morrison House at Santa Monica Mountains NRA was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire/Friends of the Morrison House

As containment of the Woolsey Fire in California nears 50 percent, the extent of damage to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, its wildlife, and its historic structures, is becoming more clear. Nearly 90 percent of the NRA has been blackened by the fire, with such historic structures as the Morrison Ranch House and Western Town at the Paramount Ranch destroyed.

While NRA biologists have been able to track some wildlife by GPS collars, there have been problems receiving signals from all the collars in use.

"GPS collars for 2 more lions (P-47 and P-54) checked in, so we can confirm they are moving around normally. We're still unsure of one with a working collar (P-74) and 2 whose collars only have the VHF function, meaning we have to track them in person (P-22 and P-42)," the park reported on Twitter. "Of the 4 bobcats we're tracking, it appears the entire home ranges for all 4 have burned. We can't get the movement data w/o going in the field to download, which we can't do right now. It's possible they managed to survive but only time will tell."

Western Town at Santa Monica Mountains NRA was lost to the Woolsey Fire/NPS

The Morrison Ranch House, located in Agoura Hills, was a turn-of-the-century home that was the backdrop for a number of classic films, including Of Mice and Men and The Durango Kid, the park tweeted. Also lost was Western Town, which had been the setting for such films as Bob Hope's 1941 production of Caught in the Draft, The Lake House, a 2006 production starring Sandra Bullock, and The Mentalist television series.

Park staff could not be immediately reached Wednesday to provide further updates on losses to the 156,670-acre park, which has been closed to the public due to the fire.

Though a retreat for city-dwellers looking to find some fresh air, hiking trails, and plunging waterfalls, Santa Monica Mountains NRA has also been a retreat for mountain lions that have found themselves increasingly boxed in by southern California's development.

Since 2002 biologists at the NRA, which is adjacent to Los Angeles, the country's second-most urbanized area, have been working with the support of the California State Parks and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to better understand the mountain lions that roam within, or pass through, the NRA's borders. 

Mountain lions face significant challenges in the Santa Monica Mountains, primarily due to limited habitat and threats from urbanization including freeways, such as Highway 101, that obstruct travel. Mountain lions have a range up to 250 square miles, and require ample acreage to find sufficient food.

Genetically, lions in the Santa Monicas are at the southern end of a larger population that extends northward to Big Sur. The long-term survival of mountain lion populations here depends on their ability to move between regions to maintain genetic diversity.