Western Dry Forests and Fire Program

Discover how we're catalyzing forest restoration across 11 western U.S. states.

A dense pine tree forest on a slope. — Western Forests The Nature Conservancy is working across the western U.S. to make our forests more resilient in the face of climate change. © Megan Grover-Cereda/TNC

Spanning nearly 150 million acres across 14 U.S. states and Canada, western dry forests are crucial ecosystems that support life as we know it in the west.

Double Burn Scar in Colorado Replanting a double-burn scar forest—first burned by the High Park fire in 2012 and again by the Cameron Peak fire in 2020. © PrylinskiProductions

Program Overview

The Nature Conservancy envisions forests that are healthy, resilient, and able to withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change – allowing fire to play its beneficial role in ecosystems and supporting the health and resiliency of our communities, Indigenous cultures, thriving fish and wildlife populations, and the watersheds and landscapes upon which they depend.

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Colorado

Front Range

Wildfires in the western United States, an important source of natural disturbance, has increased in size, frequency and severity in the last 30 years.

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California

Growing our Impact

The California Chapter has a plan to save the Sierra Nevada from catastrophic megafires by exponentially increasing the amount of forest we restore.

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Arizona

Future Forests

TNC operates much like a learning laboratory and tests various efficiencies, with the intent of saving money and time for the forest industry that is involved with restoration.

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Montana

Restoring Forests

In the dry forests of western Montana, TNC staff are conducting controlled burns alongside fire crews from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

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Idaho

Prescribed Fire

As wildfires become more frequent and severe, wildland firefighters are getting pulled away from proactive treatments like prescribed fire to suppress existing fires.

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Oregon

Sycan Marsh Preserve

The Sycan Marsh Preserve became a focal point during the 2021 Bootleg Fire which burned so hot at times it created its own weather.

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Nevada

Truckee River

The Truckee River watershed supports threatened and endangered species and provides approx. 85% of the water supply for over 400,000 people and 7,000 businesses in Reno-Sparks.

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New Mexico

Protecting Water

TNC and partners launched the Rio Grande Water Fund, a collaborative large-scale effort designed to restore 600,000 acres of at-risk forests from southwest Colorado to Albuquerque.

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Wyoming

Beneficial Fire

Although forests cover a relatively small portion of Wyoming, they are vitally important to the state’s well-being. One solution to help our ailing forests? Fire.

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Utah

Prescribed Fire Work

Utah has more than 18 million acres of forest across the state. Increased development and warmer, drier weather threaten our forests which filter and store water supplies.

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A woman scientist is in a forest and writing down on paper.

Studying Snowpack in the Cascades

Washington

Do forest restoration strategies designed to improve fire resilience also promote water resilience? New research brings hope!

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Discover the Many Different Approaches, State by State

Western States Fire Map TNC is working hard to break the cycle of disastrous megafires in the Western United States. We use on-the-ground science, education and advocacy to make a difference in the geographies that need us most. See what we are doing in each of the western states.

Video

Good Fire: Restoring New Mexico’s Forests

Good Fire (4:19) Decades of fire suppression have caused wildfires to become more severe, but prescribed fire turns a fire of “chance” into a fire of “choice.” Through partnership and collaboration, The Nature Conservancy is bringing back fire to protect forests and communities.

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