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 Hughes Fire has now burned 8,096 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties since igniting late Wednesday morning near Castaic Lake, according to Cal Fire. As more than 4,000 firefighters responded to the scene, an air tanker and four helicopters attacked the blaze from the air, preventing it from jumping nearby Interstate 5, officials said.

Though many Los Angeles-area parks and museums closed because of air quality or other concerns, several have reopened, including Griffith Park, the L.A. Zoo and Autry Museum of the American West.

The Jan. 25 death is the 12th fatality connected to the Palisades Fire, while another 17 are attributed to the Eaton Fire, officials said