In this post, we wrote about the four main challenges to scaling post-wildfire reforestation, and how Mast is uniquely positioned to address the seed supply, nursery capacity, replanting conditions, and funding barriers that have limited historical efforts. Success depends on all four operating in sync. This post dives deeper into where it starts: how Mast is not only expanding the available supply of wild conifer seed, but protecting it.
It’s a gut punch to stand among the phantom forests that once presided across our project areas. Charred ravines and newly barren landscapes as far as the eye can see isn’t for the faint of heart. We can’t think of a more worthwhile endeavor than to bring these forests back from the ashes, but there's no quick fix. Replanting the right trees requires a massive volume of seed.
Mast's Henry Creek project site, 2022. Burned debris and unstable ground challenge replanting crews, but seedlings are chosen to survive in this terrain and climate.
There are an estimated 24 million acres in the West awaiting reforestation, 6 million of which would not see conifer forests return without intervention. Restoring these forests would require more than 7.5 billion seedlings. That’s enough seedlings to plant nearly one tree for every person on Earth.[1]
If that weren’t challenging enough, having enough seed on hand that is suitable, i.e. healthy and from native and diverse species, for each burned area cannot be mass produced in a lab. To rebuild critical ecosystems, we must collect, process, and store what Mother Nature provides—when she provides it.
Since 2021, Mast has driven a three-fold expansion in the available seed supply for biodiverse reforestation in the Western U.S. We have ambitious targets to expand this even further to continue supplying seed and seedlings for communities and forests in need, enlisting the help of hundreds of individual gatherers across the Pacific Northwest and creating local economic opportunities as we do so.
Conifers produce harvestable quantities of cones during “mast events,” intermittent periods of large seed crops that can be influenced by drought and other weather conditions. For some species, mast events can be as infrequent as once or twice in a decade, making collections a race with high stakes.
To target our seed resources and scouting efforts, we use proprietary software to track where fires are burning and to identify gaps in our inventory. Our science-based approach to tracking, collecting, and banking from specific seed zones ensures we select the seeds that are most likely to survive and thrive when planted.
To date, we’ve expanded our seed bank to include species from 86 to 119 seed zones out of the hundreds across the western 11 states delineated by elevation, temperature, and precipitation.
Once we identify a cone crop with the appropriate species, at the right elevation for a given site, the race is on to get the cones collected and carefully shipped back to our nurseries before they open and the seed blows away on the wind. This is where our network of cone collectors plays a pivotal role.
To us, and to the many individual cone collectors we compensate, native conifer seed is gold. We hire climbers and pickers to legally and sustainably collect what we can from public and private land for processing and storage back at our nurseries in Roy, Washington and Etna, California.
Mast has enlisted unprecedented help from hundreds of cone harvesters and gatherers from communities across the Pacific Northwest. We’re bringing new revenue, often to lower income communities, through these organized collection efforts. In 2024, we paid ~$250,000 to cone collectors in various locations in Washington and Oregon––as covered by FOX13 Seattle
Tapping into local labor markets and offering fair pay to people who find and collect cones according to our guidance is a win-win for local economies and the environment. We’re careful to harvest seeds in a sustainable way, so as not to impede any healthy forest’s ability to sustain itself. We also strictly adhere to and communicate all state protocols to participants, which do differ across state lines.
Collected cones undergo tech-aided processing at our Silvaseed and Cal Forest nurseries for inventory by species, location, and quality. We meticulously track every seed source so we can replant fire-impacted forests with seed that is matched and adapted to thrive in that particular climate and elevation. Our reforestation projects, commercial clients, and surrounding communities benefit from the most-likely-to-succeed seed.
At Mast, we use x-ray technology as part of our cleaning process ensuring that we’re working with the highest viability seed.
We bank every viable seed that isn’t immediately put into a greenhouse production line, carefully storing our inventory under optimal conditions until they’re needed for seedling production and planting or sales to other forestry operators. Our seed stores include an intentional, curated mix of species to ensure the reforestation projects we manage directly or support through our commercial clients can once again support biodiversity.
Mast manages the majority of seed for landowners across the Western 11 states.
Bags of seed stacked from fall collection events at Cal Forest Nurseries, October, 2024.
We restore native species in forests lost to high-severity wildfire so that these important ecosystems can once again grow into mature and biodiverse conifer forests. Thriving, biodiverse forests that can withstand and adapt to our changing climate are also best suited to withstand future risks from wildfire.
Each of our reforestation prescriptions follows best forestry practices such as lower density planting and appropriate species mix for the site conditions to give the new trees the best chance of efficient, healthy growth. Above all else, we ensure that we’re replanting a variety of native species that belong in that eco-region. By planting forests that can thrive once again, for centuries to come, we’re also benefitting communities, ecosystems, and the climate today.
Working in post-wildfire reforestation since 2015, and running into seed supply issues throughout our early years, Mast expanded its operations to bank seed in an unprecedented way.
Mast’s acquisition of its Silvaseed and CalForest nurseries in 2021 and 2022 enabled the tuning up of decades-old equipment that has stood the test of time. The acquisition has also enabled the expansion of nursery growing capacity, and increased wage and benefit improvements that have boosted overall seedling production and our ability to significantly contribute to the national seed shortage. With two of the largest and most experienced nurseries in the West now collaborating on the reforestation challenge and supporting their respective commercial customer bases, Mast is making incredible, tangible headway in the need for seed.
Mast's Cal Forest Nurseries has a proud history and reputation for rapid expansion as needed for commercial clients and our reforestation project needs. December 2, 2024.
There’s no technology or shortcut for collecting the necessary wild tree seed that offers genetic diversity, natural hardiness, and geographic suitability for reforestation. That’s why ongoing, manual seed collection informed by data and science is one of the four pillars of our business. We’re committed to scaling post-wildfire reforestation sustainably and supporting livelihoods as we go. It’s a win-win-win for all involved.
Critical Carbon Market Capital
Securing a reliable seed supply is only one piece of the puzzle—funding remains a major challenge for reforestation at scale.
As federal funding lags further behind, private, public, and tribal landowners alike face unfeasible costs to restore their forests without our help. Supporting our reforestation and carbon removal projects advances these critical efforts more than any other mechanism available.
Many stories of our gatherers, some self-described as “cone people”, have captivated us. We decided to share some of their stories more broadly with the world. Cone People, a short documentary film that profiles one such group, was produced by Mast and directed by our Product Designer Trever Santora. The film is now on a world tour with the Banff Film Festival through 2026.
Scaling reforestation in the West starts with seed. Mast is ensuring we have the supply, infrastructure, and partnerships to make it happen. Join us in restoring forests today.
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SOURCES
[1] Academic research, co-written by several Mast employees, estimates that 7.5 billion seedlings are needed to meet reforestation needs in the contiguous Western United States.