ARIZONA—In 2023, Tonto National Forest Payson Ranger District’s silviculture team collected its largest number of pinecones in over 25 years. Forest Service tree climbers and contractors climbed as high as 100 feet to the crown of ponderosa pine trees collecting 344 bushels of ponderosa pinecones.

Why pinecones? The seeds extracted from these pinecones are used for reforestation efforts in landscapes devastated by disease and catastrophic wildfire or to restore landscapes to their natural historic state.

Thanks to a bumper crop of pinecones throughout the southwestern United States, the Tonto silviculture team replenished the supply of pine seeds for the forest. Seedlings will be used for reforestation; specifically, the Dude Fire Restoration Project, a Wildfire Crisis Strategy high-risk landscape projects that has a primary goal of restoring the ponderosa pine forest in the burned area. The Dude Fire began in June 1990, burning over 24,000 acres and killing six firefighters. Since the Dude Fire, the project area has become dominated by dense brush and an abundance of woodland tree species.

According to forest silviculturist Patricia Ringle, "Ponderosa pine seed collected from cones this year will be used to plant seedlings within the Dude Fire Project area. We anticipate planting approximately 3,000 acres within the Dude burned area.”

Ponderosa pine trees were selected for pinecone collection based on several factors, including age, the form of the tree, resistance to infection or disease, and how many cones the tree produced.

The silviculture team carefully picked healthy seeds from pinecones within a two-week window; between the time the seed was ripe and before the cones opened. Crews worked approximately 16 hours a day to harvest cones within the short collection window. If seeds are picked too early, they stop ripening and may not germinate; too late, pinecones open and the wind will spread viable seeds. Once silviculturists determined samples were ripe, it was time to collect.

Sorted pinecones were stored in a cool, dry storage location at the Payson Helitack aircraft hangar, then transported to the Forest Service’s Lucky Peak Nursery near Boise, Idaho.

Nursery staff will process and evaluate the pinecone seeds for viability; extracted seeds will be stored until seedlings are needed for forest recovery. Seed viability varies considerably, but with a little luck and careful handling, the Forest Service collection efforts could produce over 1 million seedlings to reforest approximately 5,000 acres within Tonto National Forest.

Due to the efforts of the forest’s silviculture team, the forest has resources to accomplish reforestation goals for years to come. The Payson pinecone collection was funded with reforestation trust funds resulting from tariffs on imported forest products. The REPLANT Act, which is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, removed the previous cap limiting the amount of reforestation trust funds that the Forest Service receives annually.