Are there success stories?

There are some examples of successful mitigation of secondary fire events in several locations throughout the Southwest.

The Silver Fire burned 137,326 acres of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico in 2013, including substantial high and moderate severity burns. This fire left several communities, private properties, and infrastructure at risk from post fire flooding, erosion, and debris flows. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams assessed conditions on federally owned lands and recommended aerial application of straw and seed to high severity burns. Monitoring of sites with applied treatments revealed that in the first year following fire, seeding and mulching reduced erosion by 147% in mixed conifer sites when compared to untreated sites. Seeded areas in pine sites yielded 103% less erosion compared to untreated sites.