Volunteers for Tree Planting

Volunteers sought for tree planting on east side of San Francisco Peaks

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., July 18, 2025 — Coconino National Forest silviculturists and partner organization Ecoculture will begin planting trees north of Flagstaff next month in the San Francisco Peaks area and are looking for volunteers to help in the efforts.

Roughly 3,000 acres of planted trees were lost over the course of the 2022 Tunnel and Pipeline fires. Those trees had been recently replanted to aid in the recovery of the 2010 Schultz Fire.

Upcoming replanting efforts will plant approximately 40,000 native ponderosa pine trees across 200 acres of Coconino National Forest land in the vicinity of Schultz Pass Road on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks.

“This planting is significant not only because of the visual aesthetics and cultural importance of the San Francisco Peaks, but also because it can help reforest areas that burned uncharacteristically hot and may not naturally regenerate for more than one hundred years,” said silviculturist Mark Nabel. “These planted trees will help reduce soil erosion and improve wildlife habitat while also restoring some of the timber base that was lost in these recent fires.”

Replanting efforts will start in August and are expected to last for roughly one month. Ecoculture will be hosting a community volunteer planting event 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. August 9. For more information or to sign up to volunteer, contact Wade Gibson at wade.gibson@ecoculture.us.