What to Do After a Wildfire: Recovery and Restoration for Landowners

By Jennifer Hunt (Content Writer), Nicole Porter (District Manager), and Brian Vrablick (Intermountain Region Manager)

Despite the best fire prevention strategies and fuels reduction efforts, wildfires can still occur. If you’re a landowner who’s recently experienced a wildfire on your property, it can feel overwhelming, but all is not lost. With timely assessment and careful planning, it’s possible to recover economic value, prevent further ecological damage, and help your forest heal. In this blog, we’ll walk through key post-wildfire steps like salvage logging, soil stabilization, and restoration strategies.

Assess the Damage and Prioritize Safety

After a fire, one of the first and most important things to do is connect with your AFM forester. They will assess the extent of the damage to determine a comprehensive post-fire plan. Because wildfires often increase the risk of erosion, your forester will examine the burn severity across soils, vegetation, and the tree canopy. This initial evaluation informs decisions about salvage, safety, and site rehabilitation.

Salvage Logging

Salvage cutting, a time-sensitive practice that removes fire-damaged or killed trees, helps to recover merchantable timber before it loses value. Because dead or damaged trees can decay quickly, timely action is important. Salvage logging also reduces fire hazards by removing excess fuel from the forest floor and opens the door for reforestation efforts.

While salvage has been practiced for decades, it’s not always the right answer for every site. In some ecologically sensitive areas or lower-severity burns, a forester might recommend alternative approaches or limited removal. It’s of the utmost necessity to protect a landowner’s financial investment while still supporting forest health. In addition to trees clearly killed by fire, some trees will be partially burned or stressed by the fire, especially at fire edges and where the fire stayed on the ground surface. Additionally, trees stressed but not killed by fire usually attract bark beetles. Salvaging beetle-killed trees or protecting live trees with Verbenone or MCH packets before late spring/early summer of the following year prevents beetles from emerging and killing additional trees.

Soil Stabilization and Erosion Control

In many cases, fire-scorched slopes are vulnerable to erosion, flooding, or sediment runoff. Your forester may recommend soil stabilization measures, including:

• Seeding native grasses and shrubs
• Installing culverts, water bars, or swales on slopes to divert water
• Applying straw mulch or erosion-control blankets on bare soil

These actions reduce the risk of further land degradation and protect nearby waterways from sediment pollution.

Planning for Regrowth

Once salvage and stabilization efforts are underway, it’s time to think about the future of the forest. Some sites may allow for natural regeneration, depending on the seed bank, species present, and fire intensity. This is the most cost-effective method because the seeds are already adapted to the site. However, it’s still important to monitor weed growth, control competing vegetation, and engage in thinning to reduce fire risk in future years.

In more severely burned areas, reforestation may be required. This involves replanting the site with native tree seedlings to help restore forest structure and prevent the spread of invasive species. Your AFM forester can recommend the right species mix and a timeline for planting based on your land’s goals and conditions.

Habitat Restoration and Wildlife Considerations

Wildfires can significantly impact fish and wildlife habitat, especially for at-risk, threatened, or endangered species. Your forester may recommend habitat restoration activities like:

• In-stream habitat improvements for fish
• Retaining snags for bird and bat habitat. These trees will provide wildlife and soil benefits for decades or longer, while they are standing, after they fall, and as they decay into the ground.
• Enlisting the help of beavers

Cost-Share and Grant Opportunities and Moving Forward

Restoration doesn’t have to be a solo effort. Your forester can help you identify cost-share and grant programs from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), state forestry agencies, federal agencies like the Forest Service, and others. The Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) also supports private forest landowners in restoring forests negatively affected by natural disasters. If you have been keeping good records on your forest management, the damage you suffered may qualify as a “casualty loss.” For more information, check the National Timber Tax website, www.timbertax.org, and type “fire” into the search engine.

Recovery after a wildfire isn’t easy and is an ongoing process that can take years. Having the right team on your side can help you navigate the path ahead with science-backed solutions and decades of experience in restoration projects. Reach out to our experts today to get started!