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After large forest fires, managers with the U.S. Forest Service take on the task of reforestation.

But the work has barriers. Seedlings don't grow well just anywhere, and in certain places, they are more likely to die.

"And replanting is a fairly expensive endeavor when you're talking about hundreds of thousands of acres," said Solomon Dobrowski, a faculty member at the University of Montana.

In just a few days, Dobrowski and his research partners will officially start work on a $700,000 NASA grant to help identify the best places to replant in the West. The project runs for three years and builds on work the team did in greenhouses with an earlier grant from the National Science Foundation.

"It's a great example of how basic science funded by the National Science Foundation then gets moved into a realm where there could be real-world applications for folks," Dobrowski said Wednesday. "I'm proud of that part, and we're going to do our best to do that applied science."