Three years ago, the Telegraph fire burned more than 180,000 acres in and around Tonto National Forest.
The Globe Ranger District is developing a plan to reestablish habitats for the Mexican spotted owl that calls the Tonto home.
The federal government lists the Mexican spotted owl as a species of concern in Arizona and New Mexico. It’s threatened in Colorado, Utah and on the Navajo Nation.
The Telegraph Fire destroyed areas of its habitation east of the Valley.
The reforestation project would add ponderosa pine and other native plants to a 550-acre portion of the forest left with burn scars. Jamie Wages is with the Forest Service.
“This is the first one that we're doing on the Telegraph and what we're planning to do if this is successful, we'll look at this as phase one and we'll continue different kinds of reforestation," Wages said.
The district is seeking money from the federal REPLANT Act, which aims to plant more than a billion trees across the U.S. over 10 years.
"We work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that we are managing the population and we're doing what we can to try to rehabilitate the population and make sure that they are continuing to thrive," Wages said.
The forest service will use seedlings from an Idaho nursery.
The Globe Ranger District hopes to start planting in the fall of 2026.
