The Role of Anticipatory, Preparatory, and Transformative Governance in Wildfire and Watershed Resilience Strategies

Authors

• Robin Kundis Craig, Robert A. Schroeder Distinguished Professor & Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of LawFollow
• Melinda Morgan, Regents’ Professor, University of New Mexico Department of Geography & Environmental StudiesFollow

Abstract

Wildfire is a game-changer for both communities and ecosystems throughout the West, including in New Mexico. Building resilience to increasing numbers of wildfire events, especially when wildfires can shift communities, ecosystems, and combined social ecological systems (“SESs”) past tipping points and into new regimes requires new approaches to governance. Focusing on the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire and New Mexico residents’ ongoing response, this Article examines post-fire needs before surveying new modes of governance that can help to address those needs in a climate change era. It ends with a summary of our engagement with the participants in the “Life After Fire” Symposium to assess whether and how these new modes of governance are emerging as responses to wildfire in New Mexico.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Robin Kundis Craig & Melinda Morgan, The Role of Anticipatory, Preparatory, and Transformative Governance in Wildfire and Watershed Resilience Strategies, 66 Nat. Res. J. 281 (2026).
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol66/iss2/6