Wildfires shape and define our forest landscapes. Fires have always been a natural and important part of the forest life cycle – supporting healthy forests and biodiversity and even burning excess dead leaves, wood and other debris to present future destructive wildfires. However, as climate change continues to create hotter, drier conditions, there has been an alarming increase in destructive and high severity wildfires.  

Large, high-severity wildfires make it very difficult for forests to naturally regenerate by burning up seed sources. Without human intervention, some forests may fail to recover entirely and could convert to non-forested ecosystems like shrublands or grasslands..

American Forests is working closely with federal and state agencies, Tribes and local communities to develop and implement science-informed reforestation strategies to help restore forests after wildfire and make them more resilient against future destructive wildfires and climate change. Our approach includes:

  • Helping convene public and private land managers from across large landscapes to plan landscape-scale restoration.   
  • Using climate-informed restoration techniques to evaluate and prepare burned areas and plant the right trees and vegetation in the right locations.

Photographs from Castle/Pier Fire scar in the Sequoia National Forest. American Forests is training a crew from the California Conservation Corp on restoration. Two crew members practice working with the tablets used for recording survey information., These photos were part of magazine reporting and photography project that took place in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains between June 1 and June 7, 2023. Photos depict: (1) Cone Camp, a regional training focused on building up cone surveying and restoration monitoring skills among foresters. During Cone Camp, a variety of experts presented on best techniques and practices for cone collection and demonstrated activities like tree climbing and cone cutting. (2) A burn scar in Sequoia National Forest created by the Rough Fire, where the land had been prepped and replanted with a mix of seedlings, including giant sequoias. Kat Barton, Caitlin Edelmuth, and Noé Romo Loera with American Forests, as well as Joshua Miller, demonstrated sequoia planting and manual release (clearing excess vegetation). (3) Surveying for natural regeneration on a burn scar in Sequoia National Forest created by the Castle Fire. Kat Barton, Caitlin Edelmuth, and Noé Romo Loera demonstrated how to survey for a group of forestry technicians with the California Conservation Corps. On this day, we also visited Alder Creek, property owned by the Save the Redwoods League, to visit the Stagg Tree. Timothy Borden can be seen talking about giant sequoias., These photos were part of magazine reporting and photography project that took place in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains between June 1 and June 7, 2023. Photos depict: (1) Cone Camp, a regional training focused on building up cone surveying and restoration monitoring skills among foresters. During Cone Camp, a variety of experts presented on best techniques and practices for cone collection and demonstrated activities like tree climbing and cone cutting. (2) A burn scar in Sequoia National Forest created by the Rough Fire, where the land had been prepped and replanted with a mix of seedlings, including giant sequoias. Kat Barton, Caitlin Edelmuth, and Noé Romo Loera with American Forests, as well as Joshua Miller, demonstrated sequoia planting and manual release (clearing excess vegetation). (3) Surveying for natural regeneration on a burn scar in Sequoia National Forest created by the Castle Fire. Kat Barton, Caitlin Edelmuth, and Noé Romo Loera demonstrated how to survey for a group of forestry technicians with the California Conservation Corps. On this day, we also visited Alder Creek, property owned by the Save the Redwoods League, to visit the Stagg Tree. Timothy Borden can be seen talking about giant sequoias., To learn more, read: https://www.americanforests.org/article/a-giant-task-fixing-californias-reforestation-pipeline/ Mark Janzen / American Forests

American Forests provides training to the California Conservation Corps on restoration in a burn scar in the Sequoia National Forest caused by the Castle Fire. Two crew members practice working with the tablets used for recording survey information on natural regeneration.
Photo Credit: Mark Janzen / American Forests

American Forests is also a championing force behind the REPLANT Act, which was passed in November 2021 as part of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Through the REPLANT Act, we are partnering with the USDA Forest Service on a $20 million keystone agreement to scale up reforestation across national forests over the next five years and help address a reforestation backlog of approximately 4 million acres on National Forest System lands damaged by wildfire. 

The risk of wildfires to our national landscapes has never been more dire – in California alone, approximately 1.5 million burned acres need to be reforested. Unless we take swift action to replant and restore more of these forests, we risk their permanent loss.