Trends in forest structure restoration need over three decades with increasing wildfire activity in the interior Pacific Northwest US

•Broad scale trends in restoration need remained steady despite increased wildfire.•Wildfire helped achieve structural restoration goals in historically frequent fire regimes.•Restoration need decreased most in dry-forest watersheds that experienced fire.•Restoration need steadily increased in dry-forest watersheds without fire.•Our approach can be broadened to a wider range of disturbances and treatments.