Updated manual now available; Reforestation Camp set for June 16-17 in Mendocino County

Forest management after wildfire is a challenging process, and for many California landowners, it’s an overwhelming one.

Over the past several years, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources has led multiple post-fire education efforts to help forest managers decipher the best path forward. From developing online learning tools for landowners to hosting hands-on “reforestation camps” for practitioners, UC ANR forestry academics aim to build community knowledge and understanding for these recovering ecosystems.

Post-fire management activities depend on a wide range of factors: ecosystem type, fire severity, resource availability, and a landowner’s individual goals. For family forest owners (typically described as small, non-industrial forest landowners), navigating this information landscape following a disaster can be daunting.

To address this, UC ANR has developed an online Post-Fire Resilience course providing landowners practical guidance after fire. The course launched on May 2 and is free to the public.

Susie Kocher, UC Cooperative Extension forestry and natural resources advisor for the Central Sierra region; Katie Reidy, UC ANR post-fire forest resilience stewardship coordinator; and Jordan Mesias, UC ANR instructional designer developed this course for landowners seeking actionable steps for restoring their forestland.

The online curriculum is adapted from UC ANR’s Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshop series, a statewide educational program that served nearly 300 Californians (pdf) between 2022-2025.

“The workshop is designed to provide stepping stones and educational tools for landowners, and helps them think about how to manage their land for the future,” Reidy said. 

The Post-Fire workshops featured a hybrid online and in-person approach, where weekly meetings and field trips significantly increased landowner understanding of salvage logging, erosion control, reforestation opportunities and other post-fire topics. 

Free course can help landowners, managers find post-fire assistance

During the self-paced online course, key concepts like forest health, identifying fire severity and post-fire safety considerations are taught through modules and videos. Landowners will gain confidence in finding post-fire assistance and articulating their goals to a natural resource professional. 

Kocher has collaborated with local Resource Conservation Districts, government agencies and private landowners on post-fire recovery efforts. She noted that small, private landowners keep her feeling hopeful for the future of California’s forests.

“I do have hope that even after large and destructive wildfires, a component of the landscape has the potential to persist as a forest because of private, non-industrial landowners,” Kocher said. “I’ve done research projects where I talk to landowners, and they almost uniformly want to replant, but face barriers to getting it done.”

Take the free Post-Fire Resilience course (note that enrollees will need to create a free Campus Extension account).

Find additional post-fire management resources on the UC ANR website.

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Updated reforestation manual available; Reforestation Camp slated for June 16-17 at Hopland REC

As wildfires burn larger and hotter in California, swathes of forestland may not naturally regenerate new trees. Natural regeneration relies on living seed trees, so when all the trees across a landscape burn, it may be necessary for land managers to intervene and replant the landscape with seedlings.

Over 40 years ago, land managers received guidance on the reforestation process when the first comprehensive manual for reforestation in California was published. UC ANR forestry scientists took a lead role publishing an updated version of the manual this year to address a heightened, statewide reforestation need. 

The 2026 Reforestation Manual for California Conifers brings expertise from UC ANR, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and industry professionals to the public for free. Land managers can learn best practices for selecting seedlings, preparing landscapes for planting and management for seedling success.

The Reforestation Manual for California Conifers is available to download on the eScholarship website.

For forestry practitioners interested in one-on-one reforestation training, UC ANR is hosting a Reforestation Camp in Mendocino County at UC ANR’s Hopland Research and Extension Center, June 16-17.

Reforestation camp participants will receive a “crash course” in different aspects of reforestation planning and implementation, from assessing potential sites to monitoring seedling success post-planting. Learn more and apply.