Restoring Arizona's Forests

Working to Save Our Forests

Collaborative efforts are underway throughout the state to minimize the occurrence of mega-fires and improve forest health.

Healthy Forests Are Essential For Abundant, Clean Water

Healthy forests allow more water to reach our underground aquifers and our streams and rivers. In Arizona and the Southwest, where extended drought and increasing demand are putting pressure on our limited water supplies, Arizona’s forests are clearly critical to our water future.  

Unfortunately, our forests are overcrowded and unhealthy. 

Years of fire suppression in our forests have created dense stands of small trees. After years of drought, these overgrown forests are at high risk of large, catastrophic mega-fires that put our communities and water supplies at risk. The small trees are like straws competing with each other to suck up precious groundwater. They also are like match sticks waiting to combust and flame the fires. Recent severe fires, including the Wallow Fire, burned homes, forced evacuations, degraded water supplies, restricted recreation, forced wildlife relocations and caused damaging erosion. The economic impact to Arizona citizens and businesses counted in the tens of millions of dollars. 

The Urgent Need:  Restoring Arizona’s Forests

The Nature Conservancy is a leading advocate of thinning our forests to restore a more natural, healthy balance and increase our water yield. New research now awaiting publication shows that forest thinning in the Salt and Verde River basins could yield substantially more water from the forest because there would be fewer trees competing for underground water. More underground water could mean more water for the streams and rivers, possibly offsetting water losses predicted from warming and drought conditions. Accelerated forest thinning would also reduce the risk of catastrophic forest fires that could befowl our streams and reservoirs with sediment and ash.