Moving Towards Coordinated Reforestation: Reflections from the 2025 Reforestation Summit

Authors

  • Zack Wurtzebach Spatial Informatics Group-Natural Assets Laboratory
  • Elizabeth Pansing American Forests
  • Joseph Stewart University of California, Davis
  • Joshua Sloan New Mexico Highland University
  • Thomas Whitham Northern Arizona University
  • Malcolm North University of California, Davis
  • James Thornes University of California, Davis
  • Michelle Jeffries United States Geological Survey
  • Aalap Dixit Oklahoma State University
  • Charles Truettner American Forests https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8247-6154
  • David Saah SIG
  • Jordan Coombs SIG
  • Teal Richards-Dimitrie SIG
  • Rob Lawson SIG
  • Brian Morris American Forests
  • Ben Rushakoff American Forests
  • Ryan McCarley American Forests
  • Kendall DeLyser American Forests

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21750/REFOR.19.01.122

Keywords:

Adaptation, Assisted migration, Climate-adapted, Forest restoration, Forest Tree Nursery, Nature-based solutions, Reforestation Challenges

Abstract

On January 15, 2025, American Forests and Planscape convened the 2025 Reforestation Summit at the Google.org offices in San Francisco, California, U.S. This collaborative event combined American Forests’ decades-long experience in post-fire reforestation planning and implementation with Planscape’s innovative, community-driven forest restoration planning platform. The objective of the summit was to initiate the development of an integrated reforestation tool(s) to support an end-to-end pipeline approach to post-fire reforestation. The summit brought together more than ninety leading scientists—both in-person and virtually—from across the United States to advance the state of reforestation science and practice (Figure 1). We first provide a brief summary of the 2025 Reforestation Summit, then describe the decision support tools (DSTs) that were discussed at the summit, and lastly discuss the next steps and challenges for building out an integrated reforestation tool(s).

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Author Biographies

  • Zack Wurtzebach, Spatial Informatics Group-Natural Assets Laboratory

    Executive Director

  • Elizabeth Pansing, American Forests

    Senior Director, Forest and Restoration Science

  • Joseph Stewart, University of California, Davis

    Research Ecologist, Department of Plant Sciences

  • Joshua Sloan, New Mexico Highland University

    Associate Professor, Department of Forestry

  • Thomas Whitham, Northern Arizona University

    Regents Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

  • Malcolm North, University of California, Davis

    Affiliate Professor, Department of Plant Sciences

  • James Thornes, University of California, Davis

    Research Ecologist, Department of Environmental Science and Policy

  • Michelle Jeffries, United States Geological Survey

    Ecologist

  • Aalap Dixit, Oklahoma State University

    Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management

  • Charles Truettner, American Forests

    Senior Manager, Climate Science

  • David Saah, SIG

    Professor and Director of the Geospatial Analysis Lab at the University of San Francisco

    Managing Principal and Co-founder of Spatial Informatics Group

  • Jordan Coombs, SIG
    Program and Product Manager
  • Teal Richards-Dimitrie, SIG

    Chief of Staff to the Managing Principal

  • Rob Lawson, SIG
    Planscape Go-To-Market and Partnerships Lead
  • Brian Morris, American Forests

    Vice President, Forest Restoration

  • Ben Rushakoff, American Forests

    Senior Director, Reforestation Partnerships & Innovation

  • Ryan McCarley, American Forests

    Senior Manager, Restoration and Geospatial Science

  • Kendall DeLyser, American Forests

    Senior Director, Climate Science, American Forests

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Published

2025-07-04

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How to Cite

Wurtzebach, Zack, Elizabeth Pansing, Joseph Stewart, Joshua Sloan, Thomas Whitham, Malcolm North, James Thornes, et al. “Moving Towards Coordinated Reforestation: Reflections from the 2025 Reforestation Summit”. REFORESTA, no. 19 (July 4, 2025): 1–7. Accessed July 8, 2025. https://journal.reforestationchallenges.org/index.php/REFOR/article/view/234.