When it comes to forest restoration on the Colorado Plateau, we think big. In 2009, the Trust helped launch the largest forest restoration project in the country. The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) covers a 2.4 million-acre swath of ponderosa pine forest along Arizona’s Mogollon Rim, stretching from the Grand Canyon to New Mexico.
We’re working with the U.S. Forest Service, contractors, and dozens of partners to reduce the risk of severe wildfire, improve the health of our springs and streams, protect old-growth and wildlife habitat, and make our forests more resilient to climate change.
Large-scale restoration involves a lot of people, a lot of planning, and a lot of coordination. Day-to-day, we spend a lot of time in meetings, discussing past restoration activities and planning future thinning and prescribed burns.
In places where restoration is underway, we visit tracts to monitor the size and spacing of trees left behind. We also look at untreated stands to determine which trees should be cut. Our field trips help us track progress and tweak plans.
Forest restoration and the health of our water sources go hand-in-hand. We’re collecting baseline data on springs and streams so that over time, we can track the impacts of forest restoration on our water. More on our projects ›
Fire used to be frequent in the Southwest’s ponderosa pine forests, clearing out understories of saplings and maintaining open stands of large, well-spaced trees. According to lore, ranchers could drive wagons through the “park-like” woodlands. But decades of fire suppression allowed spindly trunks to crowd our national forests, and the unnaturally dense conditions now fuel severe wildfires, putting communities and wildlife at risk.
The trees are large and noble in aspect and stand widely apart, except in the highest part of the plateau where spruces dominate. Instead of dense thickets where we are shut in by impenetrable foliage, we can look far beyond and see the tree trunks vanishing away like an infinite colonnade. The grounds unobstructed and inviting. There is a constant succession of parks and glades, dream avenues of grass and flowers winding between sylvan walls, or spreading out in broad open meadows. From June until September, there is a display of wildflowers which is quite beyond description.
— Clarence Dutton, geologist for the United States Geological Survey
By accelerating forest restoration, 4FRI seeks to:
Forests play a key role in capturing, filtering, and supplying clean water for the communities, plants, and animals that live nearby. The state of Arizona only receives about 12 inches of rain each year, so it's important to conserve and protect our scarce water resources.
Climate change — Climate change is already affecting the Colorado Plateau, and scientists agree that the Southwest will continue to get hotter and drier over the coming decades. For forests, this means increased stress from drought, invasive species, pest outbreaks, and fires.
Wildfire — Big blazes not only threaten homes and infrastructure, but they also send loads of ash and debris into our waterways, which can kill aquatic life and impact water quality.
What's the big deal about protecting the woods? For starters, it could save millions of tax payer dollars.
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