In addition to funding the planting of trees, we’re investing in the wildfire restoration capacity of American Forests through a three-year, $300,000 commitment to the REPLANT Initiative, a historic partnership between American Forests and USDA Forest Service that aims to kick off the largest post-wildfire effort on national forest lands in recent history.
Learn more about why this work is so important.
American Forests, the oldest national conservation organization in North America, has been doing the hard work to conserve and restore forests since 1875. Since 2004, the CLIF brand has partnered with American Forests to restore natural forest habitats on our beloved public lands across North America from the Sierra Nevada range to the Appalachian Mountains, from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande—restoring forests after wildfire, recovering monarch habitats in Mexico, and rebuilding critical habitats for wildlife. CLIF brand employees have also actively participated in reforestation efforts in their own communities planting nearly 100,000 seedlings in Indiana, California, and Idaho.
“At the CLIF BAR brand we believe that healthy forests and trees provide essential benefits for climate, people, water, and wildlife. We are so proud of our 20-year partnership with American Forests and the efforts they have on building healthy, resilient forests and urban landscapes,” said Evgeny Kasputin, VP of Marketing for CLIF BAR. “We are grateful to our employees, partners, customers, and communities for joining us on our successful journey to plant 1 million trees by 2025.”
Why Are Trees So Important?
Healthy forests and trees, from the wilderness to cities, deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water, and wildlife. Forests capture carbon and are a leading, nature-based solution to climate change. They cool our neighborhoods, provide work in the forestry industry, and are home to 80% of land-dwelling species. They also take care of us by filtering our water and air and improving our physical and mental health. Trees also prevent soil erosion from wind and rain, a benefit particularly important to our food system.
“Restoring forests as a climate change solution offers the opportunity to capture huge amounts of carbon dioxide and create green jobs when millions of people are out of work in rural communities,” says Jad Daley, American Forests’ president and CEO. “Tree planting and care also create much needed green jobs in cities and move us closer to ‘tree equity,’ in which every neighborhood can benefit from the power of trees to improve our health by cooling and cleaning the air.”
American Forests is working to solve two critical issues: climate change and social inequities facing people in under-resourced communities that lack trees. They partner with local organizations to restore forests, build movements that drive forest policy on a large scale, and use innovative techniques to help forests withstand climate change. That’s especially important now, as climate change supercharges the stressors on our forests, putting species at risk we’ve come to depend on.
How Recent Wildfires Have Increased the Urgency of Restoration
For thousands of years, forests have survived the natural rhythm of wildfire and regrowth, with fire being a healthy part of the forest ecosystem. In recent years, however, we are seeing catastrophic, high-severity wildfires impacting our forests very differently. Due to the effects of climate change and management practices that suppressed fires for decades, fires are burning hotter and bigger, leaving more acres without surviving trees or seeds to naturally regrow the forest.
When this happens, the only way to bring back those forests may be for humans to lend a hand.
CLIF brand employees got to witness this first-hand, when 18 volunteers joined American Forests in Sequoia National Forest for a week in July 2024 to collect data in wildfire burn scars that would help inform future planting sites. “It was incredibly stark to walk through these forest graveyards,” said Louisa Brown, Sr. Manager of Waste, Water, and Sustainability Activation, “where thousands of giant trees once lived, and to know that without intervention this landscape may never see forest again. It really puts into perspective how important this goal and our partnership with American Forests is.”
Nearly 4 million acres of our national forests need reforestation immediately, and the Forest Service has not previously had the funding, workforce, or stored seeds to keep up.
The REPLANT Act Is Supporting Resilient Forests
The REPLANT Act was passed in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, unleashing significantly more federal funding for wildfire restoration work. Alongside the Forest Service, American Forests is co-leading the implementation of this investment in restoration, convening partners to expand nursery production, growing the forestry workforce, enhancing seed collection, and managing climate-smart reforestation projects on the ground.
The CLIF brand signed on as a core partner in 2023, committing to invest $300K over 3 years in American Forests’ REPLANT Initiative. Our forests give us places to play, adventures to have; they sequester carbon, clean our air, and are critical to fresh water systems. The CLIF brand is committed to protecting and restoring our natural resources for the sake of people and our planet.
A Global Movement
CLIF BAR and American Forests know full well that the challenges of climate change — and the importance of forests in addressing the emergency — go beyond national boundaries. That’s why both have pledged reforestation efforts in support of 1t.org, a new, worldwide movement to conserve, restore, and grow 1 trillion healthy trees worldwide by 2030. 1t.org brings together corporations, governments, nonprofits, and individuals to work toward the 1 trillion tree goal, a nature-based solution to help lock up the carbon in our atmosphere.
All photos credited to Mark Janzen and Craig Kohlruss - @markjanzenphoto and @craigkohlruss