Wildfire vulnerable communities live within a cycle of pre-fire mitigation, wildfire response, and post-fire restoration. This continuum requires frequent collective community action and active land management.
On March 21, the Fire Circle Community Fair brought together 100 community members and partners, from 20 organizations working across all stages of wildfire resilience at Luna Community College. Residents from 10 communities within the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon (HPCC) burn scar, along with visitors from Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, connected with community leaders, researchers, and restoration practitioners.
Through a series of short talks, attendees received timely updates on groundwater contamination, forest recovery post-HPCC, hazard tree removal on power lines, homeowners’ insurance and NM’s wildfire prepared homes initiative, and the value of volunteer fire departments. Attendees received direct access to resources and tools to support them as they navigate the wildfire cycle.
The Fire Circle is an initiative of Fire Informed Restoration Education New Mexico(FIRENM) at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, in partnership with the Wildfire Resiliency Training Center at Luna Community College, Forest Stewards Guild, The Nature Conservancy, Fire Learning Network, and the New Mexico Forestry Division.
FIRENM will be hosting free land restoration, skills training, and fire mitigation workshops through 2026. The next scheduled workshops are Home Hazard Assessment (April 25 in Sapello), Plants as Restoration Tools (June), Recovery of a Burnt Forest (TBD, Fall) and Managing Green Islands (TBD, Fall). Three chainsaw classes can be organized based on interest and participant registration, specifically: An Introduction to Chainsaws for Novices, A Community ChainsawRefresher, and Beyond the Basics: Chainsaw Maintenance and Repair.
Email interest to ShantiniRamakrishnan at shantinir@nmhu.edu.
