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PHOTOS: Reforestation project adds thousands of seedlings to Lake Christine burn area

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Austin Colbert
  

Sarah Pearson, reforestation coordinator with the White River National Forest, shows off one of the seedlings being planted in the Lake Christine Burn Area on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, on Basalt Mountain.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The crew members showed off their efficiency, moving through the charred forest like little rays of sunshine. The mostly Spanish-speaking workers represent Oregon-based Tovar’s Reforestation, the company contracted to help bring back Basalt Mountain’s shine, lost since the Lake Christine Fire decimated the area in 2018.

Led by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the White River National Forest, the crew spent most of Monday and Tuesday taking part in an aggressive reforestation project that included planting seedlings all throughout the Lake Christine burn area. A small group of local media was invited to see the work done firsthand on Tuesday.

Sarah Pearson, reforestation coordinator for White River National Forest, was calling the shots. She has more than three decades of reforestation experience, including around 20 years in her current role.

“What we are doing up there is a result of the Lake Christine wildfire,” she said. “It was a deep, dark forest, mostly of spruce and lodgepole pine. But when you get up there, you see it pretty much all burned up. Here and there are some pockets of some live trees, so we are getting some spruce that is seeding in.”

Crew members of Tovar’s Reforestation, the Oregon-based company hired for the job, dig a hole to plant a seedling on Tuesday in the Lake Christine Burn Area of Basalt Mountain.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
A crew member of Tovar’s Reforestation, the Oregon-based company hired for the job, digs a hole to plant a seedling on Tuesday in the Lake Christine Burn Area of Basalt Mountain.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The numbers are impressive. The latest reforestation project includes the planting of 79,000 seedlings over 270 acres of the Lake Christine burn area: 46,000 are Engelmann spruce, and 33,000 are lodgepole pine seedlings. The crew of 12, plus one foreman, planted 17,000 seedlings on Monday alone, a clip of more than 1,000 seedlings per worker.


The seedlings were grown at the USDA Forest Service Bessey Nursery in Nebraska, using seeds collected locally from within the White River National Forest; the seedlings are about a year old.

Seedlings are being planted at elevations between 9,600 and 10,200 feet on Basalt Mountain. USFS says the burn area is recovering naturally, and the seedlings are being planted in areas where recovery has been slow to take hold.

The seedlings were a gift from the National Forest Foundation’s Reforestation Program, which contributed $60,000 for the seedlings. Contract costs for planting are $47,000.

The Lake Christine Fire started July 3, 2018, when illegal tracer rounds were fired at the nearby Basalt Shooting Range during a period of high fire danger. In total, the fire burned 12,588 acres and destroyed three homes.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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