Not long ago, these hillsides were completely blackened. Trees stood scorched. Now early spring grasses cover the ground, bringing new growth to the charred remains of a 2024 wildfire that swept through more than 240,000 acres on the Boise National Forest in Idaho.

Why we do this

“It was a significant wildfire season for us. During the summer of 2024, we had a total of about 65 total fires. The large fires spread across four different ranger districts on the forest, and so that presented the challenges and the complexity of the season for us,” said David Francomb, Deputy Forest Supervisor of the Boise National Forest.

Fire rises above the Boise National Forest in Idaho in 2024. Forest Service firefighters worked along the fireline to contain the blaze during a significant wildfire season across the region. Months later, Forest Service safety crews work to clear hazard trees from forest roads. (Top two: Forest Service photos. Bottom: Forest Service photo by Michael Williamson)

The tireless efforts of Forest Service firefighters and many others finally helped contain the fire. But the landscape is changed: a destroyed canopy with new undergrowth.

There is now a very real, looming danger. The giant, dead trees – standing for now – will one day fall without warning.

“When the public is out in the forest recreating, they can get stuck behind trees on dead end roads like this. When those trees come down, a lot of times they don't have chainsaws or winches or anything to get themselves out,” said Joshua Newman, Idaho City district ranger.

Year after year, more will fall. Removing them now clears the way for safe roads, safe trails, and a safer future.

How it works

Post-fire timber recovery is removing hazard trees and salvaging what remains.

“We're not cutting every single tree down. We're looking at specific trees that have damage, that meet certain criteria,” said Newman.

The work is rugged, precise and a massive effort. After professional sawyers fell trees marked for cutting, the grapple skidder claws its way up the mountain. It drags the felled trees down the steep terrain. At the bottom, the stroke boom de-limber rips off the limbs and sizes the logs, clearing each one for the journey ahead. Then, with precision, giant log loaders hoist entire trunks into stacks and onto logging trucks for delivery to the mill.

What begins in fire doesn’t have to end in loss. But the lumber must be removed quickly.

“Economically, the material is really only valuable within about the first 18 months after a fire. Other than that, it becomes essentially firewood,” Newman said.

Contract sawyers and loggers use specialized equipment, including a grapple skidder and stroke boom delimber, to process trees killed during the 2024 wildfire season on the Boise National Forest in Idaho. The work is part of post-fire timber recovery efforts to remove hazard trees and salvage usable timber. (Forest Service photos by Michael McCool)

“This wood feeds the mills. It supports economies in towns like Emmett and Cascade. And it helps us get the forest back on its feet,” said Francomb.

Salvage is only the first step in forest recovery – setting the ground for follow-on work like reforestation and reseeding to restore native vegetation.

Working together

This work crosses boundaries, because wildfire doesn’t stop at map lines.

“By partnering with Idaho Department of Lands, we're able to analyze a project and then hand that project off to the Good Neighbor Authority Bureau. They have contracting processes and staff that allow us to increase the pace and scale of these projects,” said Brian Davis, south Idaho shared stewardship coordinator.

Shared stewardship brings federal, tribal, state, county and private partners to the same table through programs like the Good Neighbor Authority, currently used in more than 30 states across the country.

“This is not just an Idaho thing. Shared stewardship has expanded to many states in the West and they're seeing similar results,” Davis said.

The long view

Salvaged timber from wildfire-affected areas helps support nearby communities, while Forest Service silviculturists plant new trees to replace those destroyed by a historical fire season in 2024, which damaged large sections of the Boise Nation Forest. (Forest Service photos by Michael McCool)

From hazard tree removal to replanting, the Boise National Forest is rising again.

“It's important for clean water. It's important for wildlife habitat. And it's important for future generations,” said Francomb.

From flame to regrowth, from sawmill to seedling, from loss to legacy. This is restoration. This is stewardship. This is what it means to care for the land after the fire.