Every seedling has a plan
A seedling slightly taller than a pencil rests against an ash-covered ground.Behind it stand the blackened trunks of a recently burned section of the Boise National Forest.Within a moment, the planted roots of that seedling will disappear into the soil. Before a single tree is planted after a wildfire, foresters have already spent months determining where reforestation is needed, which…
#Silviculture, #Planting, #PlantingTrees, #Reforestation, #Seedlings, #Forestry, #ForestRestoration, #BoiseNationalForest, #Resiliency, #ResearchAndDevelopment
Growing the next forest
Long before planting crews carry seedlings into forests, the work of restoring tomorrow’s forests has already begun. At Lucky Peak Nursery near Boise, Idaho, Forest Service employees grow millions of seedlings each year for national forests across the West. From seed held in cold storage to greenhouse cultivation and shipment, this behind-the-scenes look follows the science, planning and…
#Seedlings, #Seeds, #Nurseries, #Reforestation
Reforestation takes root
A well-planted seedling takes root on the Mount Shasta landscape, as part of the Lava Fire Restoration Project in Northern California, April 2026. In just over three planting seasons, Forest Service crews and partners have planted 1.47 million seeds across 2,769 acres of burned landscape. (…
#Reforestation, #Seedlings, #Planting, #PlantingTrees, #Trees, #EcologicalRestoration, #Restoration, #Conservation
New boom design improves nursery irrigation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Forest Service manages six nurseries nationwide, each contributing vital seedlings to national forests for replanting after wildfires, forest management and restoration treatments or other disturbances. Managing, caring for and ensuring the growth and survival of these seedlings is a critical job, one where technology can ensure that process goes more smoothly for our…
#Irrigation, #Nurseries, #Seedlings
Record pinecone harvest provides seedlings for Dude Fire burned area
A Forest Service tree climber uses ropes to descend from the crown of a ponderosa pine tree after collecting pinecones for sampling. (USDA Forest Service photo by Connor Massey)
ARIZONA—In 2023, Tonto National Forest Payson Ranger District’s silviculture team collected its largest number of pinecones in…
#Reforestation, #Seedlings, #Seeds, #Silviculture, #InfrastructureInvestmentAndJobsAct
Fighting non-native invasive plants with missing natives
White pine, red oak, witch hazel, buttonbush, red elderberry, silky dogwood, ninebark, a sycamore and a smattering of alder were planted along the Batten Kill River. Photo courtesy Hildene Marketing.
VERMONT—Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forest staff joined partners on the Batten…