CLIMATE MATTERS: Replanting trees after fires in Arizona - KVOA Tucson News

CLIMATE MATTERS: Replanting trees after fires in Arizona | Climate Matters | kvoa.com

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — The Aspen and Bighorn fires were devastating to the top of the Catalina Mountains and in a natural world it would take decades to replenish those trees. Thankfully there are groups now that try to restore the environment at the top of the mountain to keep the climate as stable as possible.
Storm Tracker 4 Meteorologist Daniel McFarland goes in depth about the important role trees play in Tucson's climate.

Trees play a huge role in an area's climate and after a large fire, nature will eventually fix the issues but it would take a long time which is why after large fires people get together to replant trees to keep everything stable.

John Eisele, is a long time Arizona resident and once owned a home at the top of Mount Lemmon. Unfortunately the Aspen fire started during his time on the mountain and his family was forced to evacuate.

"The Aspen fire took out 200 homes. We were lucky to get saved."

And after their house was saved, John's wife got involved to help save the mountains.

He said, "They started a group called trees from Mount Lemmon. Where we replanted the trees that were burned. There was no seed bank for the ponderosa up there so we actually collected seeds and sent them to Flagstaff to be germinated because they have a similar climate and then we brought them back and planted them."

This is a long process that takes years but after the Aspen fire the group learned they need to have ponderosas on standby to be ready to be planted after a large fire.

After the bighorn fire in 2020 the forest service planted 43,000 ponderosa pines to help restore the mountain for this decade.

Trees not only provide food and shade for mountain creatures but they also help control the temperature for the top of the mountains by keeping it cooler. More trees means that the temperature can be stable for longer. If the mountain had been bare for a long period of time many of the animals would not have survived.

A big concern is that trees are fuel for wildfires. As long as they receive steady rainfall which is in question they should be fine for years to come. As of now we are beginning to enter wildfire season.