Sampling sites were selected in burned and unburned areas where transects for bird surveys had previously been established. Plots were selected randomly in each site and sampled weekly. A 50 m2 plot was selected in a severely burned area and an unburned area nearby and observations made on arthropod populations. There were more genera collected in the unburned than the burned areas. Generally, the most common arthropods found in burned and unburned areas were ants and spiders. A New Jersey light trap operated at Ponderosa campground in 1977, before the fire, collected several hundred specimens per trap night. In 1978, the volume of specimens collected in the trap was similar to that collected before the fire. In some areas the drastic reduction in arthropod populations might have had an adverse effect on populations of some insectivorous birds or other animals.