Happy Thursday GSFFC blog readers,
When wildfire risk loomed large in the Brazos Canyon, a handful of neighbors decided to act. What began with a simple community survey has grown into a collaborative, multi-year effort to reduce fuels, improve safety, and build resilience across the valley. The Brazos Firewise story is important because it shows how local leadership, strong partnerships, and shared responsibility can transform concern into meaningful change, offering lessons for any community facing wildfire threats.
This Wildfire Wednesday features:
Additional Opportunities and Resources
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.
Organization Foundation and Getting Started
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, but after some time, the effort languished. However, after some Brazos neighbors attended the 2022 Rio Chama Congreso and learned of the dire drought conditions, forecast, and fire propensity, in 2022, a couple of neighbors decided they should take action.
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. The results highlighted specific neighbor’s needs, including need for a vendors list for mitigation services and financial assistance, but respondents also demonstrated a strong willingness to help each other.
The founders developed a 5-year plan for the fire mitigation effort and began to reinvigorate the Firewise program. The neighbors recruited help from other neighbors and began establishing alliances with the local State District Forester, Jose Carillo, and the Forest Stewards Guild. Brazos Firewise leaders decided to hold annual meetings to inform neighbors about the survey, funding opportunities, and latest techniques and findings about fire mitigation techniques.
Brazos Canyon Subdivision Leaders
Data from the original survey indicated that many residents in the Brazos described their location in the valley based on their subdivision, so Brazos Firewise identified supportive leaders in each subdivision to carry the word back to their community. Below highlights a few of these leaders and focuses on one of their key roles in the Brazos 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 the 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 has 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 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 neighborhoods 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’s 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.
Q: When you think about your work in wildfire preparedness, what is your vision for your community?
Reducing Fuels. Our key goal is to reduce the fire severity threat in the watershed from very high to moderate. To achieve this goal, we’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 and the Brazos River Valley only having a single road providing access to the majority of parcels, the Brazos Firewise team had to prioritize, and this means improving residents’ ability to safely exit the valley in the event of a fire and creating defensible space for existing homes. Fortunately, the State of New Mexico Highways and State Forestry have been supportive and through a memorandum of understanding 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 the inevitable fires occur.
State Forestry, with the Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation District as fiscal agent, will begin to create defensible space for property owners through a CDWG grant. Property assessment began this summer, and vendors are expected to begin to complete mitigation around homes for the 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 fire severity threat requires large “landscape scale” efforts. Fortunately, 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.
Q: What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role or just beginning this work?
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.)
Our 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.
Q: What efforts are your team members especially proud of?
Our team has accomplished a lot and we feel the “all hands, all lands” slogan has particular relevance for our 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 exceed the individual efforts. Like all good efforts, there’s rarely one sole person responsible, but plenty of credit to be shared and need to acknowledge all the great work completed.
Click here to read the full Brazos Firewise story.
Additional Opportunities and Resources
Application for Equipment Transfer of a BLM Type 6 Engine
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in New Mexico is soliciting applications to transfer one excess Type 6 fire engine, equipment, and supplies to a local fire department to enhance their wildland firefighting capabilities. Under BLM’s Rural Fire Readiness (RFR) program, local wildland firefighting cooperators that meet eligibility may receive items the BLM no longer needs at no cost. This year, BLM New Mexico will be transferring one fire engine, which will come stocked with $3,000 worth of firefighting tools, hose, and appliances.
The application deadline is October 3, 2025.
Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant Application
The State of New Mexico, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), Forestry Division is seeking Applications for the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program (VFA). This VFA grant is provided through emergency funds made available by the U.S. Forest Service to protect communities from catastrophic wildland fire. Grant funding focuses primarily on wildland fire objectives including: 1) equipping rural fire departments with wildland fire equipment; 2) organizing rural fire departments for wildland fire response; and 3) wildland fire prevention. EMNRD will give higher priority to projects that enhance local governmental entities’ capabilities to safely respond to and manage wildland fires in medium/high risk areas (as identified in the New Mexico Forest Action Plan) through the response of their rural/volunteer fire departments.
Application due date: October 24, 2025, at 5:00 pm
Firewood Bank Funding
The Alliance for Green Heat, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, is making significant funding available to enhance the network of firewood banks across the United States through the Firewood Bank Assistance Program. This year, grants will be up $50,000 to enable programs to acquire more wood and larger processing equipment. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until all available funds have been awarded.
Wildland Firefighter (Prevention) Position Open with BLM New Mexico
BLM is hiring a prevention-focused wildland firefighter for a permanent position located in Las Cruces, NM. The application closes 09/24/2025.
Some position duties include:
Develop, coordinate, and implement educational school programs, meetings, and events with tribal governments and local communities to reduce loss resulting from wildland fire.
Lead the wildfire prevention and mitigation program and facilitates local, state, and regional/national/tribal forums.
Develop and implement strategic wildfire mitigations and protection plans during wildfire events to assess actual and potential risks and hazards.
Leads, develops, and implements wildfire restriction and closure plans.
Directs the identification and analysis of major causes of wildland fire and ensures that these causes are addressed in wildland fire management plans.
Leads unit level annual wildfire prevention readiness reviews.
Provides oversight to ensure adherence to, and implementation of, fire investigation program requirements at the unit level.
Podcast: The Ebb and Flow of Public Trust Around Prescribed Fire with NM Deputy State Forester Lindsey Quam
The sixth and final episode of the Fire in the Southwest Podcast Series explores the complex, multicultural fire histories and management dynamics in New Mexico, with Deputy State Forester and Tribal Liaison Lindsey Quam. Lindsey speaks to how the intersecting cultures and management values across New Mexico—including Indigenous peoples, the Hispanic population and, well, white people—presents challenges but also opportunities in trying to extoll the merits of prescribed fire.
Association for Fire Ecology: Studying Fire Resource Page
Now that many schools are back in session, the Association for Fire Ecology put together a Studying Fire resource page. Many resources for students who are currently studying fire or who are interested in fire can be found on this page, from trainings to employment opportunities to a list of fire ecology and management degree programs. The page includes a map of colleges and universities that have been identified as having fire ecology degree/minor/certificate programs, SAFE chapters, prescribed burn clubs, or other strong fire interest. Click on the map below to access it!
Did they miss your college or university? Fill out this short form to provide more information.
Smoke Ready Communities Materials Release - Oct. 9, 12:00 PM
Join the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network and Liz Walker, PhD, for an informational webinar all around smoke ready communities! During this hour-long webinar we will discuss the "why" of including wildfire smoke in your FAC efforts and conduct an overview of the new smoke ready graphics & accompanying materials.
View the materials here: https://fireadaptednetwork.org/new-resources for-smoke-ready-communities/
National Preparedness Month
FEMA’s Ready Campaign has observed September as National Preparedness Month since 2004 to encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies. The month is a great time to take small steps to make a big difference in being prepared.
Preparedness Starts at Home, the 2025 theme, focuses on getting back to the essentials of preparedness. In addition to sharing the tips, messages and graphics you can find on Ready.gov, there are four key actions they ask you to do to be better prepared for disaster: know your risk, make a family emergency plan, build an emergency supply kit, and get involved in your community.
See the full announcement and toolkit on ready.gov.
