Seedlings Thriving After Summer Wildfires

Small seedlings are thriving in some parts of last summer’s wildfire areas, according to monitoring underway by Forest Service officials.

Natural regeneration usually occurs to some degree after a fire. The monitoring will give officials an idea how many acres will produce trees on their own and how many acres will need to be reforested by hand.

The Forest Service has been collecting pinecones to build the seed supply at Lucky Peak Nursery. The seed and seedling supply has been strained by wildfires and bug infections that have killed thousands of trees.

Many acres of seedlings are growing, which will eliminate the need to manually reforest parts of the burned area. The current Boise River Wildfire Recovery plan calls for planting approximately 20,000 acres over the next several years.

The study will continue for the next few years.