Six years ago, on a mountainside above Fort Collins, the largest wildfire in Colorado history left behind its own scar. Researchers from Colorado State University’s Colorado Forest Restoration Institute are several years into a study that could shape how — and through what mechanisms — Colorado’s forests come back after fires like the ones currently afflicting the state. The site was chosen because the fire’s footprint spans nearly the full elevational range of Colorado’s forests. Stevens-Rumann said she expected some die-off but was stunned by how many Ponderosa Pine seedlings failed in what were historically Ponderosa-dominated forests. You could focus on this really decimated stuff, or you can focus on the fact that it’s pouring out regeneration.”