Climate change is shifting fire regimes and changing localized conditions in forests around the globe. Forest vegetation and soils act as major global carbon sinks, and this carbon storage is threatened by increasing fire frequency and severity, especially if altered disturbance regimes result in a shift in vegetation. The effects of slash burn piles on soil biogeochemistry and revegetation contribute valuable information on forest fire ecology and the feedbacks between the soil, vegetation, and microbiome after severe fire events. Clear cut and burn pile soils collected in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests in northern Colorado were analyzed for microbial activity and elemental composition over a 60 year chronosequence. Soils in burn pile scars had less organic matter and generally lower microbial activity compared to soils from their clear cut harvest counterparts. Revegetation trends in a similar chronosequence and location confirmed that effects of burn piles influenced soil biogeochemistry for decades if not longer. Ultimately, pile burning impacts the resilience of the forest to future severe fire events. In combination with expected warmer, drier climatic trends, results suggest that a more severe fire could lead to a shift away from forests and towards shrublands. Rehabilitation of burn scars is essential to maintain forest ecosystems in Colorado.