Integrating watershed restoration in wildfire management: opportunities, approaches, and examples
| Authors: | Nathaniel Gillespie, Pauline Adams, Jen Croft, Rebecca Flitcroft, Johan Hogervorst, Paul Powers, David Callery |
| Year: | 2026 |
| Type: | Other |
| Station: | Washington Office |
| Source: | FS-1270. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington Office. 20 p. |
Abstract
It may sound simple, but water doesn’t burn. Techniques for river and stream restoration, known as process-based restoration (PBR), store more water on the land, which can increase fire resilience and bolster fuel treatments. PBR applied in stream corridors, meadows, and valley bottoms can quickly and cost-effectively increase surface water and groundwater by utilizing non-merchantable timber and slash to raise water tables and increase soil moisture. Integration of watershed restoration during fire and fuels planning can strengthen suppression-control features such as Potential Operational Delineation (POD) boundaries while increasing ecological benefits (fig. 1). Intact wetland complexes and streams connected to their floodplains can better withstand wildfires, provide refuge from fire for fish, wildlife, and plants, then capture ash and sediment following wildfire.