Recovery

As wildfires burn with increasing severity throughout the United States, the need for effective recovery efforts has never been greater. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service works to prevent the loss of life and damage to infrastructure in the immediate aftermath of extreme wildfires, to restore severely burned landscapes, stop further degradation, and rebuild ecosystem resilience to better withstand future wildfires.  

Why Recovery Projects Matter 

Fire plays a natural and necessary role in many ecosystems across our country. Periodic low-intensity fires speed up forest decomposition and deliver nutrients to remaining plants. They build resilience to future fires by reducing vegetation and creating a mosaic of burned, partially burned, and unburned areas, which makes it less likely that future fires will torch an entire landscape while also creating diverse wildlife habitat. And they support seed germination for some plant species, like the lodgepole pine that requires the heat of flames to open its cones and disperse new seeds. 

Across the United States, however, we are experiencing more catastrophic wildfires that burn so hot they incinerate everything over a large area, fundamentally damaging the landscape’s ability to heal itself. These extreme wildfires can: 

• Incinerate plant roots and organic matter that stabilize topsoil.
• Create water-repellent soil layers that increase runoff and erosion.
• Destroy seed sources needed for natural regeneration.
• Open pathways for invasive species that transform ecosystems and fuel future catastrophic wildfires.
• Trigger erosion, flooding, and mudslides.
• Degrade water quality in streams, rivers, and reservoirs.
• Eliminate critical wildlife habitat for decades or longer. 

When extreme wildfires destroy the vegetation and soil that normally absorb rainfall, they can trigger subsequent disasters like flash floods, mudslides, or debris flows that pose series risks to downstream communities and infrastructure while also causing further ecological damage. 

When this happens, immediate intervention is necessary to stabilize soils, prevent erosion, restore native vegetation, and start rebuilding the resilience of these lands to help them withstand future disturbances. 

Without intervention, severely burned areas may take decades to recover, or the ecosystem may be permanently changed, creating conditions for even more frequent and severe wildfires. 

How We Support Recovery 

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service supports recovery after a catastrophic wildfire through both immediate intervention and long-term rehabilitation efforts. 

Emergency Stabilization 

Emergency stabilization often begins while an extreme wildfire is still burning and can continue for up to a year, with additional monitoring over three years. These rapid-response actions prevent immediate threats to life, property, and natural resources from post-fire hazards such as flooding, debris flows, and erosion. 

Emergency stabilization activities may include: 

• Installing erosion control barriers and sediment traps.
• Mulching burned slopes to protect exposed soil.
• Closing and rehabilitating unsafe roads and trails.
• Stabilizing burned areas near watersheds and water supply infrastructure.
• Implementing emergency channel and drainage improvements.
• Installing warning signs and barriers for public safety. 

These immediate actions are critical for preventing subsequent disasters and cascading damage. 

Burned Area Rehabilitation 

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service also conducts long-term recovery projects that can extend over multiple years following a catastrophic wildfire. These efforts support landscapes that are unlikely to recover without human intervention. 

Rehabilitation activities can include: 

• Soil stabilization: We use heavy equipment and mulching to reduce erosion, contour landscapes to control runoff, and disrupt the growth of invasive plants.
• Invasive species control: We stop the spread of invasive plants through hand removal, herbicide application, or introduce bacteria to control them to prevent ecosystems from changing permanently.
• Native vegetation restoration: We spread native plant seeds and plant native seedlings to reestablish vegetative cover and prevent invasive species establishment.
• Habitat restoration: We reestablish conditions for wildlife, pollinators, and other species dependent on native plant communities.
• Infrastructure repair: We repair or replace minor infrastructure damaged by the fire, such as trails, bridges, fences, campgrounds, boat ramps, stock tanks, and informational kiosks. 

These rehabilitation efforts are designed to jumpstart the natural recovery process and restore the resilience of severely burned lands to enable them to withstand future fires. 

Strategic Planning and Evaluation 

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service uses science-based assessment to determine where intervention is needed and what actions will be most effective. Teams of specialists—including soil scientists, hydrologists, botanists, biologists, and ecologists—evaluate burn severity, soil conditions, erosion potential, invasive species threats, and natural regeneration capacity. 

We work to ensure that recovery resources are directed where they are urgently needed and will have the greatest benefit while ensuring that projects are tailored to the specific ecological conditions and recovery potential of each site. 

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service also evaluates the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts, frequently in collaboration with Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey, the USDA Forest Service, and other scientific institutions. These assessments help us refine our approach and improve outcomes with future recovery efforts.