When small areas burn, mosaics of different vegetation and age classes are created. Seeds, long buried, will quickly sprout, and wind will carry conifer seeds short distances, quickly reforesting an area. Again, although less than one-half of the Sanford area was actually affected by fire; several large north-facing slopes, consisting of mixed conifer, burned. These steep slopes will have a difficult time holding water, soils and seeds to reestablish. As a long-term monitoring team, composed of various resource specialists, continues to look at this area, re-forestation, or planting new trees, is one option that will be considered.

Four months after the fire, some areas are recovering quickly; however, the steep slopes, still devoid of vegetation, will remain highly erosive and move sediment into already degraded riparian areas.