As fire seasons across the Western United States become longer and more severe, experts are increasingly concerned that burned forests won’t grow back the way they were. In a new Northwest CASC-funded study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers explored the effects of large-scale droughts on pine forest regeneration across the Interior West. They identified a type of “drought seesaw” that alternates wet and dry conditions between the Northern Rockies and the Southwest every three to four years. Using a combination of seedling establishment models and forest recovery data, they found that Ponderosa Pine regrowth across the region follow observed precipitation patterns, with the slowest recovery occurring during drought cycles and greater tree regrowth occurring under more moist and cool conditions. These results reveal the influence of climate conditions experienced by seedlings immediately post-fire, as slowed pine regrowth can affect regional landscape composition for decades to come. The authors hope that these findings can inform forest managers’ recovery strategies and responses to post-wildfire drought in the West.