ARIZONA—The USDA Forest Service is developing a five-year plan to reintroduce native plants and ponderosa pine trees in a 551-acre section of the Telegraph Fire burn scar to reestablish habitat for the Mexican spotted owl.

Restoration also will support the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection landscape, one of 21 landscapes the Forest Service recently identified as part of the agency’s 10-year strategy for confronting the wildfire crisis, by reducing wildfire exposure to communities within the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations.

The Telegraph Fire burned through 180,757 acres in June 2021 on the Tonto National Forest Globe Ranger District. The fire reduced the Mexican spotted owls’ nesting source (ponderosa pine) and protected activity centers. These centers sustain and enhance sections of the forest that are presently, recently or historically occupied by breeding Mexican spotted owls.

The project timeline includes ordering seedlings in fiscal year 2025 from Idaho’s Lucky Peak Nursery. The nursery grows trees for replanting on National Forest System lands in the western part of the country. Planting within the burn scar would begin sometime between spring and fall 2026, depending on weather.

District staff will seek financial aid from the Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act of 2021. Passage of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included the REPLANT Act, which removes the cap on the Reforestation Trust Fund, indefinitely increasing annual funding for reforestation from $30 million to $140 million or more.

The REPLANT Act is helping the Forest Service plant 1.2 billion trees and create nearly 49,000 jobs over the next 10 years to address the growing backlog of nearly two million acres of national forestland in need of reforestation.

According to Jamie Wages, Wildfire Crisis Strategy project manager on the Globe Ranger District, the REPLANT Act presents the Forest Service with a bold opportunity to integrate new
approaches to reforestation in response to today’s challenges.

“This includes changes in fire intensity and frequency, climate change, invasive species and loss of biodiversity,” said Wages, who is spearheading development of the five-year plan. “Reforestation aids the environment by accelerating the re-establishment of healthy forests by regrowing the forest canopy and preserving biodiversity within the ecosystem.”

Wages and co-workers continue to meet with the San Carlos Apache Tribe regarding the possibility of the tribe ordering ponderosa pine seedlings through a 638 agreement with the Forest Service.
A 638 agreement is a tool to fund work identified as a priority under an approved Tribal Forest Protection Act proposal by a tribe for work on National Forest System land. The work mutually benefits tribes and the Forest Service.

“We continue to brainstorm with tribes about who might plant the seedlings and how that will be done,” Wages said. “Ultimately, replanting these seedlings is an opportunity to see if we can increase other native species on the lands and expand the project within the burn scar.”

Landscape treatments will reintroduce wildland fire into fire-adapted ecosystems in a culturally sensitive way while emphasizing sustainable uses of cultural forest products, including clean water, traditional medicinal plant cover, firewood, and culturally significant food sources such as acorns, berrie, and wildlife. Work will also foster public understanding and sharing of culturally significant information to better guide land management decisions.