Wildfire severity and postfire salvage harvest effects on long‐term forest regeneration

Following a wildfire, regeneration to forest can take decades to centuries and is no longer assured in many western U.S. environments given escalating wildfire severity and warming trends. After large fire years, managers prioritize where to allocate scarce planting resources, often with limited information on the factors that drive successful forest establishment. Where occurring, long-term effects of postfire salvage operations can increase uncertainty of establishment. Here, we collected field data on postfire regeneration patterns within 13- to 28-yr-old burned patches in eastern Washington State. Across 248 plots, we sampled tree stems