There are tens of thousands of acres of dead or missing trees in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park after last year's Rim Fire.
The fire burned through 257,000 acres, with the biggest patch of dead trees burnt up to the tops clocking in at 60,000 acres.
And replanting all that might make things worse, according to some scientists.
The drought has been good for some denizens of the California forest. The dry spell has actually helped areas torched last year by the Rim Fire. There were no winter storms, so that meant no erosion to wash away the shrubs and ferns, according to KQED.
Replacing the trees will take more time and work, however -- and scientists are wondering if aggressive replanting won't welcome the next fire. The fire spread fast through young trees replanting 20-25 years ago following an earlier fire, the news source reported.
Planting trees "plantation-style" -- in neat easy rows -- probably won't be the answer. Some experts are advocating patterns found in nature that find some clumps of trees and some gaps, the news source reported.
