Fire-Adapted Future: The essential role of landscape architecture in community wildfire recovery and planning.
When land, lives, and property are lost due to wildfire, what is the role of landscape architecture in community recovery and planning for the future? Many communities like the Seminole Springs Mobile Home Park live in the wildland-urban interface and are facing the pressing issues of wildfire management. The most successful and economically sustainable method for wildfire management is to adapt our communities to the fire-prone environment in which they exist.

By using landscape-based principles and wildfire protection guidelines, this project presents a master plan that aids the Seminole Springs Mobile Home Park in their recovery and success as a fire-adapted community, after the 2018 Woolsey Fire left their park devastated.

The design highlights the possibility of simultaneously enjoying the benefits of living within the Santa Monica Mountains, while becoming better prepared to safely accept wildfire as part of the landscape’s historical ecology.

This project demonstrates how landscape architecture can help people become more knowledgeable about the land they live within, therefore becoming more engaged in actions to plan and protect their communities from wildfire.