b'AS WILDFIRESWILDFIRE IS Anatural and necessary part of western ecosystems, renewing and revitalizing native landscapes by clearing old brush, returning nutrients to the soil and WORSEN, NATIVEstimulating plants to germinate.While wildfires can be beneficial for ecosystems, the frequency and severity of these fires have increased in recent years. SEED COMPANIES,From 2012 to 2021, an average of 61,289 wildfires occurred annually, with an average of 7.4 million acres affected. As of August 1, more than 39,000 wildfires have hit nearly 5.7 mil-GOVERNMENTlion acres, according to the Congressional Research Service. What we have today are wildfires that are behaving and acting and coming around more frequently than they have in the past. Much of the acreage in the western U.S. is part AGENCIES ANDof some sort of sagebrush or other shrub and grass type ecosystem that is historically adapted to natural cycles of wildfire. In the past, sagebrush communities have seen those fires happen at intervals of 60 to 100 years, explains Damon NEW TECHNOLOGYWinter, general manager of L&H Seeds. In the present, where we have catastrophic wildfires with shortened cyclesin some places to as little as a three-to-five-year return interval of firewe are seeing wildfires that are more intense COME TOGETHER and more frequent than a lot of these native plant communi-ties are able to respond to.More intense heat and increased drought have required intervention from seed companies and government agencies following these fires to rebuild the destroyed ecosystems. Wildfire recovery efforts andIn the past, fire could naturally cycle through an area reseeding are crucial for healthyand seeds stored in the soil would naturally revegetate the site. But now with these hotter, more frequent wildfires, this ecosystems.Ally Roden native seedbank in the soil is oftentimes compromised, adds Winter. In these cases, often the only returning vegetation are annual grass weeds that only perpetuate the issue. By going in and reseeding with native species, we can try to interrupt the weed establishment to return to a more natural fire return interval and get those systems functioning closer to the way they should.Reseeding is crucial and can provide extensive benefits for the surrounding ecosystem.Reforestation, whether through seeding or hand planting, or facilitating natural regeneration with existing seed banks, 34/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2022'