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  • About
    • Annual Reports and Work Plans
    • Staff Directory
    • Employment Opportunities
    • SWERI Visme Presentation
    • ERI Video: Shifting paradigms in Forest Restoration
  • Research
    • Landscape Monitoring and Research
    • Long-term Ecological Assessment and Restoration Network (LEARN)
    • Wildfire Effects
      • Flagstaff Fire History Map
    • Ponderosa Pine Ecosystem
    • Mixed Conifer Ecosystem
    • Pinyon-Juniper Ecosystem
    • Social and Economic Research
    • Best Available Scientific Information (BASI)
  • Forest Operations & Biomass
    • Forest Restoration and Fuel Reduction Operations
      • ThinCost 1.0: A spreadsheet-based model to estimate thinning costs
      • In-woods Mobile Processing
      • Biomass Disposal
    • Workforce Training and Development
    • SWERI Wood Utilization Team Includes:
      • Business Clusters and Markets
      • Chip-and-Ship Project
  • Science Outreach
  • Tribal Forest Restoration Program
    • Wood For Life
  • Publications
  • Media and Blogs
    • Media
    • Communities In Action
    • Science Flash Blog
    • Field Notes Blog
    • Before and After Photos
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  • The Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) is nationally
    recognized for mobilizing the unique assets of a university
    to help solve the problem of unnaturally severe wildfire and
    degraded forest health throughout the American West
    Learn More

Communities In Action2021-06-02T17:50:49+00:00

Working Together to Restore:
Communities In Action

Living in the West often means learning to live with wildfire. Many communities and land managers recognize the threat of wildfire to homes, lives, and forests, and have been actively working together to develop community wildfire protection plans, restore forested areas in the wildland-urban interface, protect watersheds, and promote Firewise principles for homeowners.

Communities like Flagstaff, Arizona and collaborative organizations like the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership (GFFP), and the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP) are leaders in innovative restoration opportunities and partnerships as well as local outreach and education.

To learn more about these partnerships and initiatives, or how to better protect your community from wildfire, visit these websites:

  • Fire Adapted Communities
  • Fire-Adapted Communities Learning Network
  • Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI)
  • Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership (GFFP)
  • Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP)

The Economic and Social Benefits of Restoration

Healthy forests provide a myriad of economic and social benefits. Forests offer ecosystem services like clean water, carbon storage, flood and erosion control, and recreation opportunities, and throughout much of the West they often support vital tourist economies. Restorative mechanical thinning treatments make economic and ecological sense because they promote economic development in local economies while reducing wildfire risk and restoring ecosystem health.

To better understand the economic trade-offs of restoration, the ERI has worked closely with Northern Arizona University-affiliated and independent economists on full-cost accounting and cost avoidance studies that examine the direct, indirect, and hidden costs of severe wildfires. In addition to economic analyses, ERI studies social impacts of wildfire.

Below are several of our most recent white papers that explore the social and economic implications of wildfire and restoration:

  • WHITE PAPER: Assessment of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) in Arizona and Throughout the West (2020)
  • WHITE PAPER: Wildfire Trends Across the Western US: Forest Fires Have Increased in Size, Severity, and Frequency Across Western Forests (2020)
  • WHITE PAPER: Administrative and Legal Review Opportunities for Collaborative Groups (2015)
  • WHITE PAPER: Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project: Creating Solutions through Community Partnerships(2015)
  • WHITE PAPER: A Full Cost Accounting of the 2010 Schultz Fire (2013)
  • WHITE PAPER: The Efficacy of Hazardous Fuel Treatments: A Rapid Assessment of the Economic and Ecologic Consequences of Alternative Hazardous Fuel Treatments (2013)
  • WHITE PAPER: Forest Restoration Treatments: Their Effect on Wildland Fire Suppression Costs (2013)
  • WHITE PAPER: Workforce Needs of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative Project: An Analysis (2012)
  • WHITE PAPER: Ecological Restoration as Regional Economic Stimulus (2010)

Partnerships

The ERI maintains a national profile of excellence in the field of forest restoration and fire through scholarly activities, media, testimony, and participation at national meetings and other venues. Through this engagement, ERI has established more than 200 partnerships with governments, organization, and others in Arizona, the West, and across the nation.

Our Partners

Recent Publications

Long-term ecological responses to landscape-scale restoration in a western United States dry forest

Tree thinning and prescribed surface fire are common forest restoration strategies in the dry forests of the western United States. These treatments are often assessed at small scales rather than across large areas. This study evaluated forest structure, regeneration, old-tree mortality, and tree growth over 21 years in a large (2114 ha) Ponderosa pine-Gambel oak forest in northern Arizona. By the end of the study, tree density and basal area in the treated area were reduced by 56% and 38%, respectively, compared to the untreated control. Conifer seedling densities generally declined while hardwood sprouting increased post-treatment. Old oak tree mortality was higher in the treated area, likely due to fire injury. The mean annual basal area increment of individual trees was 93% higher in the treated area than in the control. These findings offer valuable insights for large-scale restoration efforts in dry, fire-dependent forests.

READ MORE

Fact Sheet: Indigenous Biomass Use for Forest and Community Well-Being: A Case Study of Wood For Life

Indigenous Nations have long used forest biomass to maintain forest health and provide for heating, cooking, building, and cultural purposes. Globally, forest biomass is becoming vital for reducing fossil fuel reliance and enhancing energy sovereignty. Historical increases in fossil fuel use, fire suppression policies, and Indigenous land dispossession reduced Indigenous biomass use, resulting in overstocked, wildfire-prone forests. Recently, support for forest restoration and energy sovereignty has led to new partnerships between Indigenous Nations and federal land agencies. However, knowledge gaps remain about Indigenous biomass use, including partnership roles, sustainability barriers, and successful organizational structures. This study aims to address these gaps.

READ MORE

Return on investments in restoration and fuel treatments in frequent-fire forests of the American west: A meta-analysis

Arid forests in the American West are overly dense and need fuel reduction and fire regime restoration. Forest restoration efforts, such as thinning and prescribed burning, aim to reduce wildfire risks. Despite their importance, the cost-effectiveness of these programs is not well understood. This study conducted a meta-analysis of 120 observations from 16 studies over the past two decades to evaluate the benefits and costs of forest restoration and fuel treatments. Results showed significant variation in benefits, from enhanced ecosystem services to avoided wildfire costs. In high-value, at-risk watersheds, every dollar invested in restoration yielded up to seven dollars in benefits, achieving a 600% return on investment.

READ MORE

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Contact Information

  • Mailing Address:
    PO Box 15017
    Flagstaff AZ 86011

  • Physical Address:
    Northern Arizona University Southwest Forest Science Complex (Bldg #82)

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  • A Legacy of Mentorship: Don Normandin Retires from NAU’s Ecological Restoration Institute April 29, 2025
  • Science Flash – February 2025 April 2, 2025
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Northern Arizona University sits at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, on homelands sacred to Native Americans throughout the region.
We honor their past, present, and future generations, who have lived here for millennia and will forever call this place home.

NAU is an equal opportunity provider.
ERI's research is funded by many sources, including the USDA Forest Service and the AZ Board of Regents through the Technology, Research and Innovation Fund (TRIF).



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