"ReLeaf" for Wildfires - American Forests Education & Restoration Initiative
Wildfire ReLeaf is a national campaign by Earth Share of Washington member American Forests, the nation's oldest nonprofit conservation organization and a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, and the USDA Forest Service, which manages 192 million acres of public lands and is a leader in wildland fire restoration, science, research, and suppression activities.
Wildfire ReLeaf's ecosystem restoration and tree planting initiative is designed to plant millions of trees in environmentally sensitive areas scorched by wildfires of recent years. With support from individuals, businesses, agencies, and organizations, American Forests will plant native trees in forest areas that might otherwise take years to regenerate, such as along stream banks that provide critical fish and wildlife habitat and slopes threatened by erosion. Every dollar donated to American Forests plants one tree. However, every tree planted through American Forests' Wildfire ReLeaf campaign plants two trees because the USDA Forest Service matches every tree planted, tree-for-tree.
In addition to restoring ecosystems by planting trees, Wildfire ReLeaf helps people understand community-based forestry and how it can promote healthy forest ecosystems AND strengthen the economies of communities that exist near forests. Community-based forestry practices that can benefit both towns and forests include: educating people about the dynamics of the urban/wildland interface and the role fire plays in certain forest ecosystems; reducing the risk of wildland fire and restoring ecosystem conditions adapted to fire through thinning or prescribed burning; and building the capacity of communities to be effective partners in wildfire restoration, protection, and prevention activities.
Wildfire ReLeaf also serves as a clearinghouse of information on wildfire, wildfire-related issues, and agencies that deal with wildfire. The campaign educates people of all ages about wildfire policy, fire suppression, the increase of woody debris in our nation’s forests, actions individuals can take to reduce catastrophic wildfire, and how they can educate others about wildfire. Wildfire ReLeaf spotlights agencies working to reduce the risk of wildfire and provides information about the National Fire Plan, an interagency congressionally appropriated initiative that increases firefighting capacity, restoration and rehabilitation, fire research, and builds capacity to plan for and minimize the effects of fires in areas where human development and forests meet.
To learn more or contribute to Wildfire ReLeaf, visit the American Forests Wildfire ReLeaf website.
