ERI to share findings and call for urgent action at National Conference for Ecological Restoration (June 15).

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The dry, forest ecosystems of the America West, especially those once dominated by open ponderosa pine forests, are in widespread decline as evidenced by increasingly devastating wildfires over the past two decades. As the need to restore ecosystem health is critical, the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University will be sharing its findings with land managers and restoration organizations July 20 – 24 during the 3rd National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles.

ERI Founder and Executive Director Dr. Wallace Covington will be attending the conference. Covington is known worldwide for his life’s work studying and restoring ecological and economic health in western forest ecosystems that have evolved with frequent, low-intensity fires.

“Forest ecosystem health has declined pathologically as a consequence of fire exclusion and other land management action that began shortly after European settlement of the American West,” said Covington. “Our wildlands are now overcrowded with unnaturally dense stands of trees that became established after settlement. These overly crowded stands of postsettlement trees threaten the remaining old-growth trees and leave little room for grasses and wildflowers, which once dominated the vast parklike stands that supported abundant wildlife and sustained a wide variety of Native American cultures for eons. These forests, once an asset are now often a liability, with fuels loads so high that unprecedented crownfires now threaten biological diversity and other natural resource values so important to burgeoning human populations.”

Ecologists and conservation professionals have tracked trends over the past half-century that show the frequency, intensity and size of wildfires have significantly increased as the diversity of wildlife and plants has decreased.

“The sudden leaps in aberrant ecosystem behavior that have long been predicted are now being witnessed by orders of magnitude,” said Covington.

The ERI is hopeful for ecosystem recovery, but is calling for urgent action using the best available scientific research to design and implement landscape-scale treatments. The institute is working with partners to conduct research and implement restoration projects from Mexico to Canada.

The overall goal is to: reduce fuels and the threat of high-intensity, destructive wildfires; increase forest health, wildlife and plant diversity, and sustainable ecosystems; protect communities; and, engage businesses that will likely play a key role by harvesting, processing and selling wood products.

“Ecological health and economic health go hand-in-hand,” said Covington. “We must act now for a healthy, biologically diverse forest that is an asset—not a threat—to future generations.”