Nearly Half A Million Trees Planted In Rim Fire Burn Scar
Sonora, CA– The Stanislaus National Forest has planted 493,000 trees in under three weeks this spring to rehabilitate the Rim Fire burn scar. Led by the Groveland Ranger District, the project aims to restore the forest devastated by the 2013 Rim Fire, which burned over 257,000 acres.
“We are trying to replant the forest to reestablish the ecosystem,” said Mimi Hoffman, a forester with the Groveland Ranger District. “A lot of it was high-severity burn, so there’s not much left from pre-Rim Fire, and we hope these efforts will help the forest recover.”
The project involved planting a mix of tree species, including ponderosa pine, sugar pine, Douglas fir, incense cedar, and giant sequoias. Forest employees and contractors ensure that the trees are planted correctly to maximize their chances of survival. Despite challenges from drought and climate change, recent wet winters have given the seedlings a better chance of thriving. “This year we had great rain, so we’re really hoping for better establishment like last year when we had a very intense winter,” Hoffman added.
For more details, visit USDA Forest Service.
