Rim Wildfire Restoration

This project is designed to restore landscape mosaics of both old Forest structure and Open Canopy structure within the footprint of the 2013 Rim Fire. This project occurs in the Tuolumne Watershed, a key watershed within California. The Tuolumne Watershed is a critical supplier of water to the Central Valley and the Bay Area, and restored forests will provide both water supply and water quality benefits. Restoring mixed conifer forests will reduce erosion, increase structure and thermal cover for wildlife species, and lower water temperature in riparian areas, while simultaneously increasing carbon sequestration.

The 2013 Rim Fire burned 257,314 acres of grass-oak woodlands, chaparral, Ponderosa Pine, and mixed conifer forests over the course of three months, with more than 90,000 acres being burned at a high severity. In all, 98% of the burn area was within the Tuolumne Watershed. To address this, the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) forest collaborative negotiated a common-ground reforestation plan which was adopted by the Stanislaus National Forest. This reforestation plan was designed to restore a forest mosaic to the landscape, creating habitat, protecting water quality, and ensuring the continued existence of a vibrant and thriving landscape.