UM Research: Reforestation Needs in the West to Double by 2050
University of Montana research findings project reforestation needs in the Western U.S. could double or even triple by 2050. (UM photo)
Two recent University of Montana studies are demystifying how increasing wildfires and hotter annual temperatures limit forest regeneration in the Western U.S., revealing that our capacity to plant trees can’t keep pace with reforestation needs.
The first UM study was led by Solomon Dobrowski, a researcher in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. He found that between 1984 and 2021 severe fires across the Western U.S. created 5.9 million acres of reforestation needs – a quarter of which was created by just 20 large wildfires since 2000. As the Earth warms and the fire season becomes longer and more severe, the findings project these reforestation needs could double or even triple by 2050.
“Forests in the Western U.S. are contending with a lethal combination of severe fires that kill existing trees, coupled with increasingly inhospitable post-fire conditions that limit tree regeneration,” Dobrowski said. “If we want to maintain the forests we know and love, we will need to get serious about scaling reforestation efforts.”
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