In a state where fire is no longer confined to a single season, the work of restoring forestlands has taken on new urgency. Each year, more seed sources are lost in fires, damaged landscapes expand and the window for recovery shrinks. Without timely action, vast areas could convert permanently into non-forested shrublands. Meeting this moment will require not only technical solutions, but deep collaboration across the people and systems that make reforestation possible.

This urgency brought more than 150 practitioners, researchers, Tribal leaders, agency staff, industry partners and community members together last December in Roseville, Calif., for The Understory, a three-day gathering focused on building the systems, capacity and relationships needed to restore forests at scale.

Hosted by American Forests through the California Reforestation Pipeline Partnership, The Understory was framed not as a traditional conference, but as a chance to explore what fuels forest recovery beneath the surface: people, knowledge, trust and shared purpose. The Partnership was created in response to information gaps identified by Governor Newsom’s California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force and is designed to strengthen public-private cooperation necessary for expanding seed supplies and reforestation capacity statewide.

The event opened with a visit to California’s state seedbank and nursery, where attendees traced the journey from cone to seed to seedling. Inside vaults chilled to zero degrees, cones are cleaned, tested and cataloged by elevation and origin to match future forests to the conditions they will face. The tour offered a clear message: Reforestation is meticulous and time-sensitive, and bottlenecks at any point can stall recovery for years.

Second, restoration is unfolding under unprecedented conditions. Climate change, drought stress, pests and increasingly severe fires mean yesterday’s playbooks need revisiting and updating. Rather than search for universal answers, discussions focused on adaptive strategies, matching actions to ecological and landowner goals, and acting quickly enough to take advantage of favorable post-fire conditions.

Workforce development surfaced as another defining challenge. To meet California’s current restoration goals, the workforce will need to roughly double. Participants emphasized the need for clearer career pathways, training and mentorship that can sustain a new generation of forest stewards. Programs like the California Cone Corps and Cone Camps, flagship efforts of the Partnership, are building that capacity by expanding the state’s pipeline for seed collection and processing.

Perhaps the most consistent thread was the need for sustained momentum. Severe wildfire leaves a narrow window when landscapes remain suitable for replanting. Streamlining steps across the reforestation pipeline while maintaining ecological integrity will be critical to keeping forests from converting to grasslands and shrublands.

In the coming months, the California Reforestation Pipeline Partnership will build on the momentum of The Understory through science huddles, workforce training, Cone Camps and deeper integration of traditional ecological knowledge. The seeds of collaboration and knowledge planted in Roseville now return with participants into their daily work.

Restoring California’s forests is a generational effort. But by tending the human connections beneath the work, the reforestation community is laying the foundation not only for future forests, but for a more resilient California.