FACNM Member Spotlight: Gloria Skeet

Gloria Skeet serves as the Chapter Manager for the Bááháálí Chapter of the Navajo Nation, located south of Gallup, New Mexico, within the Eastern Navajo Agency. As an active member of the FACNM Network, Gloria has been instrumental in advancing wildfire preparedness and resilience through her leadership in the Zuni Mountains Collaborative and her efforts to implement McKinley County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) goals within her community of Bááháálí.

Below, Gloria shares her experiences and key takeaways from guiding the Bááháálí community toward becoming more fire adapted and from her involvement with the FACNM Network.

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Q: Describe a life experience that helped shape your dedication and/or passion for your current work in building fire adapted communities. 

A: We were a family of ranchers and farmers so the land has always been a central part of my life and deeply important to my family. In Navajo culture, our prayers often begin with referencing our Mother Earth and Father Sun. Growing up Navajo means growing up with a strong connection to the land and the resources it provides. I grew up spending most of my childhood outside and when I moved back home, I never really thought of our area as a dense jungle of juniper and piñon.

When I started working at the chapter house, we were required to develop an emergency plan in case of a disaster. At first, I thought of disasters as things like earthquakes or tornadoes, but after the big fire in Taos, I realized that for our community, wildfire was our greatest risk. That moment opened my eyes to how unprepared our community was for wildfire. 

Around that same time, I came across a flyer from McKinley County about developing a CWPP and decided to attend a meeting. At that meeting, I was the only Navajo chapter representative there and one of only three women in the room. That experience really changed my perspective.  

Since then, I’ve been involved in the Zuni Mountain Collaborative and the annual meetings the Guild leads, where we work together to build resilience to wildfire in the region. Reading the county’s CWPP, I noticed that Baahaali was listed as one of three areas at high risk for wildfire, with Cibola National Forest right in our backyard. I also started focusing on how our chapter could implement some of the CWPP goals that hadn’t yet been addressed like improving roads that serve as escape routes. In our community, five county roads are listed in the plan, and I want to see Baahaali become one of the first Navajo communities to truly be fire adapted. 

Q: When you think about your work in wildfire preparedness, what is your vision for your community? 

A: At the grassroots level, my vision is for the community to really understand the role each person can play in reducing wildfire risk. That means getting their properties assessed for preparedness, doing thinning work around their homes, and helping their neighbors do the same. 

Many Navajo families live in clusters, and everyone in those clusters is often related. Their homes and land are deeply important to them. When we can get the message across that each person can actively take steps to protect their home, and they start doing it, that’s what long-term success looks like to me.  Community outreach is absolutely critical, and that’s where our work begins. 

Q: What are one or two projects, partnerships, or efforts you’re especially proud of? 

Darryl Wilson, Prevention Specialist, with Smokey Bear and attendees of a wildfire community education event.

A: One partnership I’m especially proud of is the work I’ve been doing with Darryl Wilson from the BIA Branch of Fire Management. I’ve learned a lot through that connection, especially since much of the Navajo Nation’s work hasn’t always reached the Eastern Agency, which is the only agency fully located in New Mexico. When I met with BIA Fire Management, I had the chance to connect with Darryl, who focuses on Home Hazard Assessments, and Dominick Chicharello, who does a lot of thinning work. Through them, I learned that we can accomplish a lot within our communities, but it often requires working directly with Navajo families who live on private land or have full land clearances. 

I’ve also been working closely with our chapter for several years now, and I’ve realized that if something isn’t already built into the budget, you have to find partners to make it happen. Collaboration is key. We’ve built a strong partnership with the Zuni Mountain Collaborative, and Mateo, with the Forest Stewards Guild has been an incredible resource, providing technical assistance and helping us apply for a grant to become a wood hub. Working with Mateo and Juan at the Guild has helped us work with our community on the things we need to address most and learn about funding opportunities like the FACNM grant. 

Q: What challenges or barriers have you faced in your work, and how have you worked through them?

A: We constantly face challenges, and they almost always come down to funding. You need money to get things done, so in many ways, money is both our biggest challenge and our biggest barrier. 

Here at the chapter and in the work I’ve done, we’ve been able to work through this challenge because there’s always a partner out there willing to help. Overcoming financial barriers really comes down to knowing what resources are available, which means keeping communication open and building strong relationships. Those connections are what make it possible to keep moving forward, even when funding is tight. 

Q: How has being a part of the FACNM Network supported or shaped your work?

A: Being part of the FACNM Network has been really valuable because it connects me with other communities and individuals doing similar work, and that network has been a huge support system. When you’re new to this kind of work, there’s so much to learn, and connecting with others helps you pick up those lessons faster because someone else has already gone through the same experiences. We’re able to learn from one another.

I also like to challenge myself to be my best, to help pave the way for others, and to spread the word about what’s possible. Many Navajo chapter communities don’t always realize the importance of having a wildfire protection plan for their community. I want to make sure they understand how important that is for their community and that they know about FACNM as a resource that can help them apply for funding and support outreach in their area. 

Q: What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role or just beginning this work? 

July 2025 community outreach event, held in partnership between the Baahaali Chapter House and BIA Wildland Fire Management - Navajo Region.

A: If you’re stepping into this kind of role, the first thing I’d say is to become aware of the resources that are already out there and find ways to access them. 

If you want to be a change agent in your community, you have a responsibility to educate yourself. Seek out information, read, and reach out to people who are already doing this work. Ask questions and build your network. Don’t hesitate to ask if you can join a meeting or attend a workshop. There are so many resources available, you just have to take the initiative to find them and many of them are right in our own backyard.  

It can take just one person to step forward and say, “Let’s go for it,” and that can open the door to a whole network of support. 

FACNM Leader Spotlight: Brazos Firewise

Kurt Schumacher, a lead organizer for Brazos Firewise, has been an engaged and dynamic leader in the FACNM Network for just over a year. He and the Brazos Firewise group have contributed valuable lessons and insights as they work to strengthen wildfire adaptation in Brazos Canyon. Their efforts highlight not only the progress that can be made at the community level, but the experiences and takeaways shared here reflect how collective knowledge and partnership can accelerate resilience-building far beyond what any one individual could achieve alone.

Below, Kurt shares how Brazos Firewise got its start, what the group has learned along the way, and how their growing partnerships with State Forestry, FACNM, and others are helping the whole community move toward greater wildfire resilience.

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Brazos Canyon

The Rio Brazos is one of the rivers feeding the Rio Grande in north central New Mexico and encompasses about 270,000 acres which is divided into about a thousand parcels.  The beautiful river valley at about 8000 ft (+/- 300 ft) was logged to support rail development and community growth in the early 1900’s, but since then, the forests have continued to grow unchecked until today.

The Brazos Canyon has largely been a ranching and recreation community, with large ranches in the upper reaches of the valley and small to mid-sized lots on the valley floor, with an estimated 2/3s of the community being second homes. 

Organization Foundation

The Brazos became one of New Mexico’s early Firewise communities about 15 years ago. Fire department leadership took the lead and began mitigation with annual chipping events, paying for a crew and chipper for many years, alongside the offers of neighbors helping neighbors.  After some time, the effort languished. However, after a few Brazos neighbors attended the 2022 Rio Chama Congreso and learned of the dire drought conditions, forecast, and fire propensity, that year, a couple of neighbors decided they should take action. 

Getting Started

Using community development principals, the neighbors set out to find out about important issues in the neighborhood. The team sent out surveys to all the valley neighbors and based on the response, discovered overwhelming support and interest in participation in fire mitigation.  (Like all mail surveys, responses may have been biased as respondents self-select whether or not to respond.) Survey results highlighted specific neighbors needs, including need for a vendors list for mitigation services and financial assistance, but respondents also demonstrated a strong willingness to help each other. Key concerns also included concern about the single road in and out of the Brazos.

The founders of the revived Brazos Firewise developed a 5-year plan for their fire mitigation effort, worked with neighbors to recruit help from other neighbors, and began establishing alliances with the local State District Forester, Jose Carillo, and the Forest Stewards Guild, who was a key organizer and participant at the Rio Chama Congreso. Brazos Firewise leadership decided to hold annual meetings to inform neighbors about the survey, funding opportunities, and latest techniques and findings about fire mitigation techniques. 

Subdivision Leaders

Data from the original survey indicated that many residents described their location in the valley based on their subdivision, so the organization has identified supportive leaders in each subdivision to carry the word back to their community. The cohesion in subdivision varies, but the Firewise program has stimulated more community meetings and glue to keep the conversation fresh. Each of the key leaders has a strong tie to their community/subdivision, with about half the leadership team being full-time residents and about the same number second homeowners.  All of the team though, shares a strong desire to live in the picturesque valley with abundant wildlife and recreation opportunities and each of them feels a sense of responsibility to maintain the valley for future generations.

Highlighted below are a few of these leaders (about 10 more are critical to the Brazos Firewise effort).

Jane W. - Co-Reinvigorator (retired), As a former city manager, Jane brought organization and sense of purpose to the team. While she has since moved from the area, the organization, energy, and cooperation she fostered among team members and with outside agencies continues to benefit the team. Strong foundations lead to optimistic futures.

Kurt S. – Co-Reinvigorator, an economist with community development experience. Kurt’s data and planning skills helped chart a plan of action to get the team started. He loves the valley, the diversity of characters in the Brazos and wielding a chainsaw. Direction has to come from the community.

Vallarie G. –Vallerie has been at every event and participates fully. After realizing the need to reduce fuels in the valley, Valerie started a small business to do mitigation. In 2025, she alone transported about 40 tons - 1/3 of the total tonnage of limbs and other green waste that have shipped from the valley. While she has many paying customers, Valarie contributes a significant portion of the waking hours to help mitigate for low-income seniors who comprise a significant portion of the valley’s residents. Never doubt the ability of a single individual to make a difference. 

Meredith P. – Meredith lives in the upper reaches of the valley and loves living in the forest, but sees the potential for a catastrophic fire. As a professional digital marketer and community influencer, Meredith has been responsible for getting the word out and growing the outreach not only for the fire mitigation effort, but for developing a sense of community in the Brazos.

Lee and Valarie W. – longtime residents of the Brazos, Lee and Valarie have been instrumental in making the program a success. From donating the use of their large-scale chipper and staff to operate it, to coordinating their neighborhood’s participation, and sponsoring community events, Lee and Valarie are leaders among the large property owners. They have been instrumental in efforts that will eventually lead to moving the valley from “High Fire Severity Threat” to “Moderate. ” In 2025, approximately 900 acres of the ranch forests will be thinned using masticator and hand thinning.  While our defensible space efforts will hopefully reduce the impacts of fire by saving lives and property, the forest health will be dependent upon largescale efforts to reduce forest density.

 Vision

Brazos Firewise’s key goal is to reduce the fire severity threat in the watershed from very high to moderate. To achieve this goal, they’ve had to enroll partners throughout the valley. 

The key goal has always been to reduce fuels, but with 270,000 acres of overgrown forest, the team had to prioritize. The Brazos River Valley has a single road providing access to the majority of parcels, meaning improving residents’ ability to safely exit the valley in the event of a fire and creating defensible space for existing homes has become the priority. Fortunately, the State of New Mexico Highways and State Forestry have been supportive and through a memorandum of understanding, (MOU) created in 2024, State Forestry will hire contractors to clear the right-of way along the State Road beginning in September 2025. This roadway project will dramatically improve the safety of people who need to exit the valley for any emergency, but particularly when inevitable fires occur. 

State Forestry, with the Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation District as fiscal agent, will also begin to create defensible space for property owners through a CDWG grant. Property assessment began during the summer of 2025 and vendors are expected to begin to complete mitigation around homes for the over 60 applicants who applied over the last couple of years.

While the roadway clearing and defensible space grants will help small property owners prepare for fire, reducing the fore severity threat requires large “landscape scale” efforts.  Fortunately, the large property owners are also onboard and during the summer of 2025, from June to August, over 600 acres of mastication was completed by large ranches through grants coordinated through the Chama Peak Land Alliance.

Network Impact

FACNM has always been the most relevant source of information that is tailored to New Mexico residents. The Brazos Firewise team’s favorite brochure for public meetings is also “Living with Fire.” 

“In addition, year after year, FACNM has been giving our team a much-needed lift to help get the word out in a professional fashion and is challenging us to go beyond Firewise to fire adapted. In 2024, FACNM and the Forest Stewards Guild helped our team create a video summarizing the fire severity threat in the Brazos Valley and the need for action. It’s been a leading draw on our website. This year, [a FACNM Program Coordinator] came to our annual community meeting and helped our neighbors to not just prepare for fire, but challenged us to begin to think about sustainability and life after the inevitable fire, which leads to a real paradigm shift.

Connections developed through FACNM have been really valuable.  FACNM coordinators helped us to cultivate a relationship with Staci Matlock, which led to the application of a fire simulation software that has helped our neighbors imagine just how volatile a fire can be in our community, and just how critical prompt action by fire personnel is to prevent catastrophic events.”

— Kurt Schumacher

Advice for others

Community input is the best way to start. By conducting a survey at the outset, Brazos Firewise was able to both explode myths (e.g. residents aren’t willing to cut trees), determine resident’s key concerns (forest density, lack of defensible space and safe egress), and identify paths to overcome perceived obstacles to getting started (vendor list, chipping events, and grant opportunities.)

Their effort to reinvigorate the program has been able to resurrect good work that was done in the past, rekindle relationships, and acknowledge past efforts while learning from past program’s shortcomings.

Partnerships with all the players are essential and will allow programs to sustain. Individual and organizations efforts will ebb and flow, but with partnerships built on trust, individual shortcomings are replaced with group action and mutual support.

Accomplishments and Moments of Pride

The Brazos Firewise team has accomplished a lot and they feel the “all hands, all lands” slogan has particular relevance for their team.  Many of the efforts to reduce the fire severity threat completed in the Brazos had a champion, but the cumulative effort and energy far exceeds the individual efforts.

A list of accomplishments by Brazos Firewise includes:

• Developing a Five-year Master plan

• Establishing a chipping program which has doubled in scope and number of events for each of the past 3 years (seven chipping events in 2025)

• Establishing a website and online newsletter with regular targeted emails

• Completing a video for the website and highlighting the need for vacant property owner participation.

• Supporting the completion of a CWPP for the county and highlighting Brazos Canyon fire mitigation efforts

• Creating a Firewise demonstration home annually and holding an educational and volunteer event each year.

• Recruiting and developing Firewise leaders from each subdivision

• Developing a vendor list so residents have a list of local companies to support their mitigation efforts.

• Hosting at least one annual community education event, with increasing attendance each year

• Supporting the volunteer fire department, including jointly advertising and staffing chipping events, fostering increased firefighter recruitment, and jointly soliciting community funds for both the fire mitigation and firefighting efforts.

• Educating neighbors on the benefits of landscape scale efforts underway by large property owners.

• Implementing an awards program highlighting support from partners and mitigation efforts by neighbors

• Regularly acknowledging the excellent work and support by our team members and our partners including District Forester Jose Carillo and Mike Andresen, in the district Foresters office; FACNM and Forest Stewards Guild staff including Megan Rangel Lynch, Rachel Bean, and Sarah DeMay; the staff and board of the Upper Chama Soil and Water Conversation Board; Maya Machamer of ISET International; BCVFD Fire Chief Catherine Praiswater, board and BCVFD firefighters; and the Brazos fire mitigation team of subdivision leaders who have led this effort tirelessly for the past 3 years. 

Like all good efforts- there’s rarely one sole person responsible, but plenty of credit to be shared for good work and the need to acknowledge great work completed.

 Learn more about Brazos Firewise and their ongoing efforts here: https://brazosfirewise.com/

FACNM Leader Spotlight: Staci Matlock

Staci doing thinning on her mom’s property in Sapello

Staci Matlock serves as the Public Information Specialist at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute (NMFWRI), based at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM. For over two years, she has been an active leader in our FACNM Network. Through her professional work related to areas such as forest thinning, erosion control, and defensible space, Staci has made significant contributions to the exchange of knowledge and best practices within the Network.

Below, Staci shares some of her experiences and key takeaways from building fire-adapted communities and being part of the FACNM Network.

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Q: Describe a life experience that helped shape your dedication and/or passion for your current work in building fire adapted communities. 

A: The first home burned in the Hermit’s Peak fire belonged to a friend and colleague. By the time the Hermit’s Peak joined with Calf Canyon and swept across the landscape, it had burned the homes of four of my fellow volunteer firefighters with the Sapello-Rociada-San Ignacio fire district. While I spent decades covering fire, forests and public lands as a reporter, this devastating fire was the most up close and personal. It was followed a year later by Las Tusas fire, which came within ¼ mile of my mom’s house. Both drove home the need to prepare forests and communities for frequent and larger fires.

Q: When you think about your work in wildfire preparedness, what is your vision for your community? 

A: In my role with NMFWRI, I understand the need for returning beneficial fire to our historically fire-adapted forests. Seeing the devastation from catastrophic wildfires firsthand drives my desire to help communities adapt to living with fire and help restore beneficial fire to the landscape.

Q: What are one or two projects, partnerships, or efforts you’re especially proud of? 

A: NMFWRI has many excellent partners at the local and state level. New ones developed and strengthened during the HPCC fire, such as those with landowners and the local soil and water conservation district along with the Wildfire Resiliency Training Center at Luna CC. The land restoration and structural ignition workshops coordinated by my colleague Shantini Ramakrishnan and the “Querencia in Action” landowner guides we are publishing are helping promote pre- and post-fire work in communities.

Querencia in Action workshop on using burned trees for log mat erosion control

Q: What challenges or barriers have you faced in your work, and how have you worked through them?

A: It can be challenging to promote fire mitigation and beneficial fire in an area that has already been impacted by a major wildfire and to people who either don’t have the resources to do mitigation work or are second home and absentee owners who aren’t vested in doing the work.

Q: How has being a part of the FACNM Network supported or shaped your work?

A: It has been great to hear about the work, events, and fire mitigation approaches by people in other communities.

Q: What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role or just beginning this work? 

A: Find a small, like minded group to start with and build from there. And definitely involve local volunteer fire departments in events, trainings, and outreach for fire-adaption/mitigation.

FACNM Leader Spotlight: Jan-Willem Jansens

Jan-Willem Jansens is the owner and principal of Ecotone Landscape Planning, LLC, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, serving communities across northern New Mexico.

As a FACNM Leader, Jan-Willem brings over 30 years of experience working in New Mexico, with a focus on landscape management planning, ecological restoration design, and land stewardship education.

Below highlights some of Jan-Willem’s experiences and takeaways since joining the FACNM Network.

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Q: Describe a life experience that helped shape your dedication and/or passion for your current work in building fire adapted communities. 

A: My current work in building fire adapted communities stems from my deep interest in and passion for work that seeks to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between ecosystem health and people’s needs; in other words, in how to connect people with the landscape in a respectful, durable, and productive way. This is deeply important to me because I believe that working in this field contributes to the quality of life and eventual survival of communities and my own family in this region.

Intellectually, this interest is grounded in my understanding that natural, low- and mixed-intensity wildfire events are part of the essential ecological dynamics in Southwest ecosystems. Wildfire plays a critical role in the ecological succession and rejuvenation process of soil and plant communities. In that way, it maintains land health and the many ecosystem services that healthy ecosystems provide. Yet, the ecological functions of wildfire and its values for people are still poorly understood by large parts of the population (and its elected officials) in this country which leads to land uses and people’s expectations of the landscape, including fire behavior, that perpetuate ecosystems that are out of balance, do not have optimal ecological functioning conditions, and do not adequately provide nature’s benefits to people.

Witnessing ecosystem degradation during my lifetime, and particularly since the mega-drought in the Southwest that started in 1996, has shaped my curiosity and insights in the role of wildfire and how communities would need to adapt to wildfire. I apply a landscape-scale approach toward ecosystem restoration, which is beneficial in understanding the role of wildfire in ecosystems and how human communities ideally interact with fire dynamics.

Q: When you think about your work in wildfire preparedness, what is your vision for your community? 

“My community” comprises several communities: my neighborhood, the city and county where I live, northern New Mexico as my primary work area, and the professional community of people I work with. It is my vision for this mosaic of communities that they “come to unity”, in the literal meaning of “community”, on how to live with wildfire. I hold a vision that people in all these communities participate in a civic process of listening and learning about their environment and human actions, and as a result, make good decisions in anticipation of and in response to needed adjustments in our relationships with the landscape and each other. This would then lead to a process of social, economic, land use, and stewardship adjustments in our relation to the land that supports the dynamic equilibrium I mentioned above as the root understanding of my vision.

Q: What are one or two projects, partnerships, or efforts you’re especially proud of? 

A: I believe that it is useful to identify projects or collaborations that are illustrative or educational to bring forward for others to explore. Such initiatives would naturally be those that are collaborative, long-term, and landscape-scale in nature. For me, those include my work between 1998 and the present in developing landscape-wide collaboration for ecosystem conservation and restoration in the Galisteo Basin, including the recent completion of a CWPP for the greater Eldorado area; my work between 2009 and the present in developing landscape-wide community awareness, collaboration, and planning initiatives that led to many ecosystem restoration projects for forests, wetlands, and Piñon-Juniper ecosystems in the Lower Embudo Valley, including a forest plan for the Las Trampas area and a CWPP for the Dixon Fire District; and ongoing planning work of the last few years toward achieving a common understanding of needed land health improvements and how to implement them in the post-fire landscape of the Southeast Jemez Plateau area, together with local pueblos and many other partners. At a smaller scale, my contribution of a research study and conceptual plan for forest management – aimed at snow and water retention – in the Cimarron Range as part of a watershed conservation plan for the Cimarron watershed between 2019 and 2021 illustrates how holistic, focused, and creative research in forest planning can generate far reaching results. This plan led – in part – to the completion of a CWPP for Colfax County, the award of a FAWRA grant for private land forest restoration in the area, a congressional appropriation for forest restoration on the Philmont Scout Ranch, and several large CWDG grants for large scale forest restoration in the Cimarron Range and the Moreno Valley.

Q: What challenges or barriers have you faced in your work, and how have you worked through them? 

A: The challenges and barriers I encountered have been many. The basic recipe for working through them includes being patient, persistent, curious, creative, showing an understanding of people associated with the challenges, and keeping an eye on the larger end goal. Most challenges are either procedural (including limited resources commensurate to the task or process) or behavioral (communication and teamwork). Good communication, a positive, constructive attitude, and management skills, including team role management, are essential to persevere.

Q:  How has being a part of the FACNM Network supported or shaped your work? 

A: Being part of the FACNM community provides a network of peers with a broad background in experiences and a community of people with similar goals and aspirations. This has been important for me for learning purposes and for working with the knowledge that “we were all in it together” and feeling far from alone in this work despite of its enormous scale and scope.

Q: What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role or just beginning this work? 

A: People interested in becoming involved with building fire adapted communities might benefit from approaching their involvement with patience, curiosity, humility, and a listening and learning attitude rather than bringing a specific action agenda. Much of the work of building fire adapted communities is that of collaborative learning. They may benefit from the wisdom embodied in the “4-Returns Framework” of Commonland, which highlights community-driven planning steps, such as seeking a common understanding, pursuing outcomes such as inspirational returns (hope, collaboration, cultural and artistic improvements), ecosystem returns, social returns, and financial returns, working at a landscape scale, and approaching one’s commitment with the notion that it takes a generation (25+ years) to make meaningful changes. People engaging in fire adapted communities might benefit from exploring how to build productive connections among people and between people and the land.

FACNM Leader Spotlight: Gina Bonner

Regina “Gina” Bonner is the Firewise Committee Chair for Taos Pines Ranch POA, which is in an unincorporated region of SW Colfax County near the Village of Angel Fire.

Gina has been a FACNM Leader since the beginning of 2023 and has made numerous significant contributions to building wildfire resiliency within her community.

Below highlights some of Gina’s experiences and takeaways since joining the FACNM Network.

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Q: Describe a life experience that helped shape your dedication and/or passion for your current work in building fire adapted communities. 

I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and natural resources. I’ve hiked and backpacked all over the state, and have catalogued rocks, fossils, birds, trees and wildflowers in Taos Pines Ranch. I will say, though, that the 341,471-acre Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon wildfire south of us definitely motivated me to get more involved in regional wildfire protection over and above Taos Pines Ranch Firewise. 

Q: When you think about your work in wildfire preparedness, what is your vision for your community? 

 

Reducing the wildfire risk rating for not only Taos Pines Ranch but also surrounding communities through fuels reduction and defensible space projects. This is important because fires do not recognize county or community boundaries. All of The Enchanted Circle has a high wildfire risk rating and should be considered as a whole for landscape treatments, forest health and watershed protection. 

Q: What are one or two projects, partnerships, or efforts you’re especially proud of? 

Partnering with the Cimarron Watershed Alliance (CWA) to write USDA Community Wildfire Defense Grants (CWDG) for SW Colfax County. This was done first as Taos Pines Firewise and later as a CWA board member. Affected communities in the awarded fuels reduction contracts thus far are The Flying Horse Ranch, the unincorporated areas of Moreno Valley and Ute Park, and Angel Fire. 

Since CWDG is predicated on having a current Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), I value partnering with the Forest Stewards Guild to get priority projects and action plans into the Colfax County CWPP. 

Q: What challenges or barriers have you faced in your work, and how have you worked through them? 

Many property owners in Taos Pines are part-time and don’t have a good appreciation of the wildfire dangers because of the precipitation and humidity levels in their other environment. The idea of cutting down any tree, much less for defensible space, was of great concern because they wanted to live in a forest up here and not in the city. The resistance was slowly overcome over time through annual education, having annual chipper days, illustrating fire patterns overlain over Taos Pines lot lines with homes using fire SimTable exercises; plus the preponderance of wildfires near us. We are heading into our third thinning initiative and, once complete, 85% of the 1,200 Taos Pines lots will have been thinned at least once, and some twice. 

Q:  How has being a part of the FACNM Network supported or shaped your work? 

FACNM supports Firewise by offering microgrants that can be applied to chipper day and education events. It’s always nice to meet and exchange ideas and lessons learned from other leaders across the network. FACNM website offers a wealth of resources and research on emerging topics like Insurance Institute for Home & Business Safety (IBHS) standards for wildfire prepared homes that are coming to New Mexico. 

Q: What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role or just beginning this work? 

Take advantage of the FACNM resources for meetings, workshops and materials. Reach out to them or other peers to explore grant opportunities and to get helpful tools. There is a lot to learn but a lot of resources to help because “you don’t know what you don’t know”.