Post-Fire Recovery

A post-wildfire landscape showing an area where a wildfire burned through part of a forest. — In September 2020, the Riverside Fire burned through the Timber Lake Job Corps CCC in Estacada, Oregon. Students and staff evacuated safely ahead of the fire, and most of the core facilities survived but damage was significant. Some staff lost their homes, the campus was without water, power, or reliable access for a long time. Rebuilding and restoration was challenging. (*USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres*)

Once the embers of a wildfire cool, the race begins to assess damage and plan for recovery. Acting quickly is essential to restore landscapes, protect communities and reduce long-term costs.

Severe wildfires are becoming more frequent, burning larger areas more severely and lasting longer. These events are causing extensive damage to our national forests and grasslands. Emergency conditions—often intensified by decades of limited active forest management—are disrupting lives across the country and making recovery efforts more complex and expensive.

While fire plays a crucial role in many ecosystems, contributing to nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and habitat creation, the catastrophic wildfires we witness today don’t just scorch trees. They can destructively reshape ecosystems, threaten wildlife habitat, damage infrastructure and strain local economies.

Recovery is not optional, it’s urgent.

The Forest Service is working to establish a national environmental assessment that will focus on post-fire recovery while meeting requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act USDA procedures.