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
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
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
www.lostvalley.org/fallecology
Tobias Policha can be reached at
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
www.lostvalley.org/fallecology, or contact Chris at 541-937-2567 ext.
116, 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
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.
Happy August,
Chris
Chris Roth
Lost Valley Nature Center
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
541-937-2567 ext. 116
nature@lostvalley.org
www.lostvalley.org/nature
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