permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

Lost Valley Nature Center News
August 1, 2007

Native Plants and Permaculture: A Call for Stewardship
a conference report by Tobias Policha

(This is an extended version of an article which will appear in the 
upcoming newsletter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon's Emerald 
Chapter--see <http://www.emeraldnpso.org>www.emeraldnpso.org.)

May 11-13, 2007 saw a unique convergence of plant enthusiasts for the 
conference "Native Plants and Permaculture: A Gathering of Plant 
Enthusiasts" hosted by the Lost Valley Nature Center. By bringing 
together people from various backgrounds and interests to grapple 
with the issues and questions around native and introduced plants in 
our landscapes, the weekend left me with a refined appreciation of 
the interactions between human activity and the evolution of our ecosystems.

Because plant lovers often have strong ideas about the green world, 
cultivated and wild, there was potential for emotions to run high. 
The promotional material for the conference specifically addressed 
the issues of intentionally introducing nonnative species, and the 
control of some of these same species with herbicides as possible 
points of contention. An introductory exercise on Friday evening made 
it clear that these practices were not so much dichotomous extremes, 
as part of a continuum of attitudes.

In what was described as "Kinesthetic Mapping" of people's attitudes, 
all conference participants were asked to position themselves along a 
line in accordance with their feelings about native and exotic 
plants. At one extreme were those who felt that the introduction and 
propagation of any and all plants should be actively encouraged, 
while at the other were those who supported the eradication of 
certain nonnative species by any means necessary. By using our bodies 
to visually express our views, it was immediately apparent that the 
extremes were relatively depopulated, while the majority of 
participants created a decided mound somewhere in the middle, 
expressing the need for education, prudence, and stewardship.

After a series of ethnobotanical walks, permaculture tours, and 
introductory exercises on Friday evening, the conference started in 
earnest on Saturday.

The first session of the day was a series of short presentations 
entitled "Natives, Nonnatives, and Finding Common Ground." The 
introduction asked us to look critically at our facts, values, and 
assumptions, and brought a spirit of restoring the natural fabric of 
life. The presentations began with Jason Blazar sharing the 
experience of "False Brome Control at Buford Park," wherein he 
stressed the need for community-based stewardship. Ed Alverson spoke 
about "The Challenges of Native Habitat Conservation and 
Restoration," touching on the fact that ecological history is largely 
an artifact of human management, that the prairies and savannas of 
pre-European settlement were maintained by human-induced fire regimes 
throughout the Willamette Valley. In terms of guiding the landscape 
to a place of health, he reminded us that "the future is a new and 
unique place." Stephanie Schroeder gave a presentation on 
"Sustainable Approaches to Ecological Restoration," emphasizing the 
need to include people in the process, and brought the idea of 
economies based on restoration products.

This was an excellent segue into Michael Pilarski's talk, 
"Wildcrafting Weeds in the Pacific Northwest," which he opened with 
the paradoxical statement, "the weeds we hate are the herbs we love." 
He went on to cite Hawthorn, Burdock, Yellow Dock, Teasel, St. John's 
Wort, and Dandelion, as examples. Controversial author and long time 
seed-steward David Theodoropoulos spoke about the psychology of 
"invasive" species. He asked us to question our perceptions about the 
world, opening with a story about a childhood neighbor, an elderly 
woman who was convinced that the bees were eating her flowers, and 
would shoo them away. The story went on to reveal this as a 
predaceous misinterpretation of the act of pollination, which is 
actually beneficial to both the plant and the pollinator. He also 
echoed the idea that nativity, like pollination, is a process of coevolution.

Toby Hemenway spoke about "Native Plants, Local Foodsheds, and 
Wildlife Restoration," opening with the question "What Did You Eat 
for Breakfast?" He went on to expose corn and soy as the most 
invasive plants on the continent, albeit with the help of their human 
mutualists. He also spoke about the ecological role of humans as the 
"keystone species" on the landscape. If humans are not separate from 
nature, then surely this is the role in which they are best 
considered. He also touched on our conception of wilderness, whose 
origin he pinpointed to the transcendentalist tradition of Emerson 
and Thoreau, noting that the "wild" landscapes encountered by these 
early settlement writers were vastly different from those that 
existed before the displacement of the indigenous people. The 
landscapes they encountered were not wild, but neglected landscapes. 
This image, of wild nature, has penetrated the American psyche, and 
now informs our conception of wilderness as this unruly cacophony of 
growth, which is largely different from the pre-European reality, 
which was informed by indigenous land management.

The session ended with a panel discussion on "Finding Common Ground" 
with Heiko Koester, Sharon Blick, Joshua Smith, Aryana Ferguson, and 
Nick Routledge. The main point that I gleaned from this was that only 
when the theoretical moves into the practical will we find solutions. 
Aryana Ferguson, who could not be present, submitted a written 
statement urging us to learn everything we can about our surroundings 
before making decisions, leading to prudence, education, 
responsibility, and respect. She also offered the wisdom that we do 
not live in a bubble, that ecology outlasts us, and encouraged us to 
not make our plant introductions other people's problems.

After lunch, participants were able to chose from different 
activities, including a plant walk with Marcia Cutler, a panel on 
"Sustainable Local Foodsheds" with Jude Hobbs, Nick Routledge, Toby 
Hemenway, Joshua Smith, and myself, and a presentation entitled 
"Invasion Biology: An In-Depth Look" with David Theodoropoulos. Since 
I was part of the presentations, I don't have notes on this part of 
the conference, but I have heard good things about it!

Before dinner there was a plenary discussion on "Finding Common 
Ground: Preserving and Enhancing Diversity and Ecological Health," 
which summarized, solidified, and questioned the day's offerings. 
Dinner itself was followed by a concert by Eugene's own 
singer/songwriter Laura Kemp.

Sunday, we shifted our focus from the theoretical to the practical. 
The morning's presentation series was on "Restoring and Enhancing the 
Roles of Native Plants in Our Lives." We heard from Dave Bontrager 
about "How Birds Select Habitats in Native Plant Communities." Sharon 
Blick spoke about "Native Plants and Butterflies." Joshua Smith and 
Heiko Koester both touched on incorporating native plants into our 
lives in presentations entitled "Edible and Useful Native Plants and 
their Associations" and "Substituting Natives for Nonnatives in Home 
Landscapes" respectively. A couple of the presenters noted that we 
seem to always want to go about things in the wrong way, with Dave 
providing the illustrative adage that "it is un-American to not clear 
brush," when in actuality the clearing of brush, to appeal to our own 
aesthetic of tidiness, often has the effect of removing habitat for 
birds and others. Heiko provided the reminder that working with 
native plants connects us to the "ancient energy of here." This was a 
good segue into the second part of the presentations, which focused 
on indigenous land management in the Willamette Valley.

In the presentations "Kalapuya Uses of Native Plants" by Bill 
Burwell, "Ethnobotany of the Willamette Valley" by Jerry Hall, and 
"Bringing Back Native Food Crops" by Rick Valley, we learned, amongst 
other things, that there were at least 200 species of plants that 
were regularly used by the indigenous people of our area, with around 
100 of those used as food--a stark contrast to our own, relatively 
depauperate, diets.

Sunday afternoon again saw an array of activities to choose from, 
including a bird walk with Dave Bontrager, a panel on "Indigenous 
Land Management" with Bill Burwell, Jerry Hall, and Rick Valley, and 
a series of  "Practical Plant Talks" on permaculture and restoration 
uses of native and nonnative plants by Michael Pilarski, Heiko 
Koester, Devon Bonady, and David Theodoropoulos.

I spent most of the afternoon at the Indigenous Land Management 
panel, where the themes centered around breaking down our 
culture/nature dualities, guiding the development of landscape 
resources by nurturing existing flows through permacultural 
wildcrafting and stewardship, and giving thanks. A connection was 
made between the traditional songs of gratitude and the preservation 
of ecological knowledge through stories, while stressing that part of 
the thanks is aiding the plants to flourish into the future, and that 
the most important thing that we can give is our attention.

I also caught the tail end of the Practical Plant Talks, just in time 
to hear David Theodoropoulos, encouraging the embracing of 
opportunity, state that "hope is so much nicer than despair." Who 
couldn't agree?

After a Final Discussion and Closing Circle participants from across 
the spectrum agreed that the weekend had helped change perceptions 
about plant/people interactions in one way or another. It was my 
sense that if we had repeated the "Kinesthetic Mapping" exercise, the 
middle ground of prudence, education, responsibility, and respect 
would have been even more populated.

For links to conference-related information, plants lists, and 
papers, go to 
<http://www.lostvalley.org/nature2007may>www.lostvalley.org/nature2007may

The upcoming event "Fall Ecology and Harvest: An Intergenerational 
Exploration," October 13-14, 2007, cosponsored by the Lost Valley 
Nature Center and NextGEN (the youth branch of the Global Ecovillage 
Network), will continue to look at some of the issues raised this 
spring, with a focus on fall ecology, indigenous tradition, and the 
harvest season here in the western Cascade foothills. More info. at 
<http://www.lostvalley.org/fallecology>www.lostvalley.org/fallecology

Tobias Policha can be reached at 
<mailto:contemporaryethnobotany@yahoo.com>contemporaryethnobotany@yahoo.com, 
www.foodnotlawns.com


Fall Ecology and Harvest: An Intergenerational Exploration
October 13-14, 2007

Cosponsored by Lost Valley Nature Center and NextGEN (the youth 
branch of the Global Ecovillage Network), this event will focus on 
fall ecology, indigenous tradition, and the harvest season here in 
the western Cascade foothills. We'll explore what is happening on the 
land at this time of year, and how we humans can harvest the bounty 
from our gardens, farms, orchards, and from the wild. We'll learn 
about the ways of the Kalapuya who preceded us here, as well as 
sustainable food growing and preservation, resource stewardship, 
ecological restoration, and traditional seasonal celebrations. We'll 
bring together people ages 12 through 112 to explore how we can learn 
from one another and pass ecological wisdom and insights back and 
forth between generations. We'll also learn about school gardens, 
mushrooms, lichens, and mosses, building community, ecovillages, and 
more. Guest presenters include Esther Stutzman (Kalapuyan 
storyteller), Bill Burwell (Kalapuya researcher), Jude Hobbs 
(Permaculture teacher and designer), Jerry Hall (ethnobotanist), Jen 
Anonia (Food for Lane County Gardens Program Manager), Heiko Koester 
(Permacultural landscaper), Sharon Blick (former director, School 
Garden Project), Rick Valley (Lost Valley land steward), Alison 
Rosenblatt (NextGEN--Global Ecovillage Network), Tammy Davis 
(mycologist), Tobias Policha (ethnobotanist), Sarah Kleeger and 
Andrew Still (Seed Ambassadors Project), Dave Kofranek 
(lichenologist), Dharmika Henschel (ethnobotanist/musician), and 
others to be announced. For more details, check 
<http://www.lostvalley.org/fallecology>www.lostvalley.org/fallecology, 
or contact Chris at 541-937-2567 ext. 116, 
<mailto:nature@lostvalley.org>nature@lostvalley.org, or write Lost 
Valley Nature Center, 81868 Lost Valley Lane, Dexter, OR 97431.


Upcoming Ecovillage and Permaculture Certificate Program

The Fall Ecology and Harvest events occurs midway through Lost 
Valley's four-week Ecovillage and Permaculture Certificate Program, 
which runs from October 1-26, 2007 (see 
<http://www.lostvalley.org/epcp>www.lostvalley.org/epcp). This 
dynamic course is a great opportunity to learn about many aspects of 
Permaculture, ecovillage design, and ecologically-integrated living, 
and also offers constant access to our 87 acres, including several 
miles of nature trails through woods, meadow, and riparian habitat. 
Our summer students are preparing to leave at the end of next week, 
after participating in a wide range of classes and projects exploring 
different aspects of sustainability. Please help us gather an equally 
diverse and exciting group of fall students by spreading the word!


Berries and Birds Update

Two weeks after their peak of abundance, the thimbleberries (Rubus 
parviflorus) have few remaining fruit, and serviceberries 
(Amelanchier alnifolia) are almost finished too. Over those weeks, 
red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) has provided, and continues 
to provide, ripe berries. The first salal (Gaultheria shallon) and 
nonnative Armenian blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) fruit are also 
ripening here. Almost overnight, large quantities of cascara berries 
(Rhamnus purshiana) have become dark, plump, and surprisingly sweet 
and tasty. Pickers and eaters are cautioned to avoid touching the 
bark of the tree (a strong laxative) or chewing or ingesting the 
seeds (ditto, reportedly). So far, fairly large quantities of the 
berries have been ingested successfully without any undesirable 
side-effects. We are still weeks from the peak of the crop, when we 
expect flocks of band-tailed pigeon to arrive to feast on the 
berries, as they do every year. In the meantime, birds been have 
relatively quiet, but three juvenile Cooper's hawks have been making 
themselves known along the path from the lodge to the mailbox on Lost 
Valley Lane. Their darkly banded tails and streaked breasts, 
well-depicted in The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North 
America (p. 100), have made them instantly recognizable even to 
someone still learning the local hawks. Dave Bontrager's class on 
Birds of Elijah Bristow State Park continues, with field trips being 
documented on one student's blog at 
<http://elviramuniz.blogspot.com>http://elviramuniz.blogspot.com.

Happy August,
Chris

Chris Roth
Lost Valley Nature Center
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
541-937-2567 ext. 116
<mailto:nature@lostvalley.org>nature@lostvalley.org
www.lostvalley.org/nature

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