Colorado Parks and Wildlife working to re-seed thousands of acres burned in wildfires in 2025

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Team has been working to gather thousands of pounds of seed to help restore wildlife habitats and protect watersheds in areas damaged by three large, destructive fires last year.

The Lee, Elk and Sowbelly Fires burned more than 265,000 acres along the Western Slope last year. They caused significant damage to critical wildlife habitat, including the mule deer and elk winter range.

While the fires were still burning, the team placed orders for more than 341,000 pounds of seed, which was shipped to and staged at the Escalante SWA Seed Warehouse near Delta. The warehouse allows CPW to store seed in bulk in a climate controlled environment for future use.

"While the seed warehouse itself is relatively small, its impact is enormous in a big wildfire year," said Tanya Banulis, a CPW habitat coordinator working at the Escalante SWA Seed Warehouse. "It allows us to quickly coordinate with federal agencies, secure seed, and focus restoration on the areas where it will make the biggest difference for wildlife and long-term recovery."  

CPW said that restoration efforts are already underway in the Oak Ridge State Wildlife Area. In February, approximately 300,000 pounds of seed will be aerially applied to 24,000 acres of land damaged in the Lee Fire. That includes targeting mule deer winter range, greater sage-grouse habitat and heavily damaged areas of pinyon-juniper woodlands.

The Habitat Partnership Program will also be assisting private landowners affected by the fires with 200 acres of aerial seeding and 1,080 acres of mechanical seeding.