Increasing frequency and severity of wildfires coupled with rapid climate change pose unprecedented challenges for conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada. Following high severity fires, some conifer forests are unable to recover, resulting in a transition to a shrubland or grassland ecosystem. Though high severity fire disrupts forest succession, post-fire climate conditions, including drought, govern vegetation recovery. Recent theory suggests that drought following high severity fire (i.e. a fire-drought interaction), may drive forest transitions, as drought hinders resilience mechanisms that promote forest recovery. Fire-drought interactions may accelerate forest transitions, ultimately resulting in recovery trajectories that would not otherwise occur following high severity fire alone. To test this hypothesis, we will conduct a field campaign in the southern Sierra Nevada, including Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, to evaluate vegetation recovery over a decade of wildfire footprints and across a drought gradient. We will evaluate varying intensities of fire-drought interactions to determine the impact of severity and timing of drought on post-fire forest recovery. Identifying where forests are most vulnerable to transition is critical to support targeted forest restoration strategies in an era of rapid climate change.