permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>]

jordan@riseup.net wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I'm new to the list. I have a question for you all.
>
>  How are you doing? Are you back home yet?
>
> I wanted to ask your take on something. Here in the states (and in
> Australia too from what I gather...) the Landscape Architecture profession
> has been cracking down on people who are doing work the LAs consider their
> privilege.
>
>  According to a head of the state board that I talked to, if you are
> drawing designs for the purposes of guiding earth-moving or landscaping,
> you are doing landscape architecture and need to be registered, or working
> under someone who is registered, or you need to be an Engineer.
>
>  Not too long ago, it was more open. NOw, the fines are very steep.
>
>  Much of what I want to do with my Permaculture knowledge involves
> earthworks and large-scale design. Do I need to go the LA route to be able
> to design and lead these kinds of projects?
>
>  what's your take on it?


I'll tell you exactly. I was an organic landscape contractor for 16 years;
took on all sorts of challenges. If I knew then what I know now and if I had 
had
the skills, expertise, experience and knowledge of permaculture that I do now 
my
customers would have beat a path to my door to get me to do work for them.  
Even so
I did good work then and lots of stonework.

The answer to your question about the LA is that they have absolutely no 
right, legal or otherwise
to chalenge your right to implement your permaculture designs for your 
customers.
The city, county, state and federal government _may_ have regulations and 
laws that you will
be expected to be knowledgeable about and to abide by. Locally these are 
planning rules such as setback requirements,
tree removal, etc. The county and state may have civil engineering rules that 
may affect your designs and construction.
Such things as site preparation that might cause erosion, site drainage after construction is finished, excavating water 
impoundments (leaching into the water table would be an issue and would affect the pond depth and may require a 
consultation with them to determine acceptable locations on site and whether any lining material would need to be 
applied). These are all things you probably already expect and plan to address in your designs so its a moot point.
Knowing the rules created by all the affected agencies would be a good idea. A call to your county planning and 
environmental departments would be useful, same to state departments. If you're building a water impoundment they will 
want to know about it to make sure you do it right. Issues are leaching into ground water, if any, the slope on the 
sides of the pond and setback from property lines; if a dam is to be built it must meet state specs to avoid any 
potential future disasters; overflow must meet specs as it will run into the local watershed and possibly onto a 
neighbor's land. Attention must be paid to the wishes of neighbors to avoid any lawsuits; if their trees are afffected
by your constuction you need to make sure it is in a neutral or positive way.

So, if your make application to all the necessary regulatory agencies and get their approval then the LA can say exactly 
nothing. ---- unless they're lawsuit happy and have more & better paid lawyers than you do, still you should still win.

> According to a head of the state board that I talked to, if you are
> drawing designs for the purposes of guiding earth-moving or landscaping,
> you are doing landscape architecture and need to be registered, or working
> under someone who is registered, or you need to be an Engineer.

That's just BS; they're just trying to intimidate you. See above. There are Landscape Planners, Permaculture designers 
and Landscape Gardeners. They all "draw designs for the purposes of guiding earth-moving or landscaping".
I would ignore them. If they harass you they can be taken to court by your state's Attorney General's office for 
violating your right to work (if your state has that law).

LL