permaculture

["Eugene Monaco" <efmonaco@comcast.net>]

I too have been pushing the wildlife corridor thing here in Knoxville.  They
like to hire planning consultants from hip places like Portland to put
together plans for areas of the city.  We have a south riverfront area
across from downtown that is transitioning from old river industrial towards
urban.  The planners said this is happening in a lot of areas as the use of
the river for transport has been replaced by the interstate system.  I went
to all the public meetings advocating that the area along the river as well
as the tributaries branching into it be made as wildlife corridors that
ultimately connect to the Great Smokey Mountains and Cherokee National
Forest areas, which are very rich wildlife habits and reserves.  I kept in
reserve the idea about wildlife bridges across the TVA dam-created "lakes",
so wildlife populations could connect from the Great Smokey Mtns to the
Cumberland Plateau, which now is largely blocked.  It wasn't too much of a
stretch IMO because there is already a nature preserve area upstream, and
there are many patches of private woods still in tact.  The problem is that
they are "landlocked."  I used the analogy: think of a string of pearls, all
connected.  But it wasn't like I was asking for a wildlife corridor down the
middle of 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
At first people looked at me like I was speaking Chinese, but since I clean
up nice, after a while I got some heads nodding and gestures of support.  We
did exercises where we divide into groups on banquet tables and draw our
ideas for the planners to incorporate.  There was also an open mic session
for public comments, and I commented.  This occurred for 3 meetings and I
was there for all 3.  
When the plan came out, presented at the 4th meeting, it was very
anthropocentric and new urban.  There was no corridor.  I questioned the
planners, and they said something like, oops, we forgot about that one,
which I took as an acknowledgement on their part that they were at least
getting a clue.  I realized that ideas sweep through the planning community
(like any group, really) and the one they were secretly leading us to is
Form-based zoning, which (as I understand it is their way of getting the
urban areas to look like old towns (new urbanism), rather than suburban
sprawl.
So rather than be discouraged, I am aware that I have somehow, in even a
small way, changed the collective conscious of the region, and moved the
spirit-that-moves-in-and-through-all-things: the lifeforce of the earth.
This on a good day.


Gene Monaco
Knoxville, TN 


>I watch that happening to Austin, TX.  People who are not a part of the
natural order, or so they appear, need McMansions and $500K condos downtown
a lot worse than a few subversive tree huggers need the trees that were here
before Austin was thought of.  I suggested a local initiative to establish
wildlife corridors through Austin to City Councilman Lee Leffingwell and I
suppose it sounded offensive to him.  He hasn't responded in any way.
Thanks for the link.

Tommy Tolson
Austin, TX