For more than a century, conservation policy has focused on economic development and wisely using natural resources.

As Los Angeles recovers from its devastating wildfires, environmental engineers, urban planners and natural disaster experts are casting forward with visions of what could come next for neighborhoods that have been reduced to ash and rubble.

The number of deaths from the wildfires that destroyed entire communities in the Los Angeles area in January 2025 has risen to 29, the county medical examiner’s office said.

The experiences of those who rebuilt after the 2017 wildfires in northern California offer a template for Los Angeles area reconstruction efforts.