If nature is left to follow its own course, this highly flammable brush will dominate the environment for decades before the original mixed conifer forest returns. Instead, many landowners have chosen to hurry nature along, some with the help of Stewardship grants. They have planted trees and used forestry techniques to keep the brush down until the trees become well established. Various techniques can be used to help trees outcompete the brush. A common approach is with the use of herbicides.
Selective herbicides kill broadleaf plants but spare conifers, giving trees the advantage.
Where brush has already excluded most trees, a broad spectrum herbicide can be used to kill all vegetation, then the property replanted with trees. Some landowners have chosen instead to use physical means like brush raking to control the brush. The techniques chosen depend on the property owner's goals and wishes. Now, six years after the Fountain Fire, millions of trees have been planted. Using reforestation techniques and some funding support, the area is well on its way to becoming a forest again.