HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT
IN PRACTICE
Providing the link between a healthy environment and a sound economy MARCH / APRIL 2003 NUMBER 88
Accepting Nature
in this Issue
by Ann Adams
L
iving in the southwestern U.S., one can be consumed with thinking about water. In talking with others around the world about this issue, it’s painfully clear to me that geography only flavors the conversation; we are all faced with the challenge of more soundly managing this precious resource. I believe the stories in this issue speak not only to that theme, but also the art of good decision-making and accepting nature’s cycles. Nature has its extremes; they are part of the patterns and rhythms that people have observed for millennia. But as people have gotten used to the steady supply of energy, food, and water that arrives at their doorstep regardless of those extremes, they have become less understanding or accepting of nature’s cycles. Successful land managers, like Gene Goven, Tony Malmberg, George Whitten, Ian MitchellInnes, and Jim Howell, have learned that nature (with all its faces) is an excellent looking glass for their management practices. Through increasing their knowledge of nature and improving their management and decisionmaking, they have been able to improve their quality of life in good times and in challenging times. Their ability to do so, I believe, is directly in proportion to their understanding nature and working with it, rather than continuing business as usual because it may be more convenient in the short-term or because it is familiar.
The Wheat From the Chaff When your livelihood doesn’t come directly from working the land, it’s easy to want nature to behave differently than what those working the land might want. If your primary concerns about nature are recreational rather than vocational, you might see rain and snow, even in “normal” quantities, as an inconvenience rather than a blessing. Of course, in reality we are all dependent on nature’s cycles. Some of us are just more protected than others, and it may be our
children or grandchildren who face the consequences of our resistance to natural cycles and limits. I think the challenge is to do the right thing now, because it’s the right thing, rather than out of fear of the future. I’ve been in the process of building a new house. We decided we were going to catch water off our roof into cisterns for our primary water source. Initially, one of the reasons I looked at water catchment was because where we live the water table is dropping fast. Due to the design of the house, it was challenging to figure out how to place the cisterns and set up the catchment system. There were times when it seemed it might just be easier to drill a well. But even a cursory glance at my holistic goal and running that decision through the testing questions, showed that the cisterns were the right way to go. And in creating the catchment system and tweaking it to get it to work, I was much more intimately engaged with nature than if I had someone drill a well. It’s easy to get lazy and rely on past patterns and behaviors or systems and structures that keep you from making sound decisions. What passed as a good decision or acceptable behavior 5 or 10 years ago, might not do the trick today. That’s where sound management principles and moral integrity come in. In many ways, trying times separate the wheat from the chaff. When things go smoothly, we are all good decision makers. If profits are up, people are happy, and the land looks good, we must be doing the right thing. But when times get tough, our mettle is tested. Are we ready to let go of old habits and limiting behaviors and beliefs that have been holding us back and now are surely pulling us down? The art of good decision-making will serve us well through fire, flood, drought, feast, famine, war, peace, pestilence, and even our children’s teenage years.
Accepting nature means understanding how the ecosystem processes work and taking time to look at how your decisionmaking is af fecting the health of the landscape around you. George Whitten knows the importance of taking time for monitoring, and is reaping the rewards. Read his story on page 2.
Dealing With Drought—Getting Ready For Rain Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Neighbor Helping Neighbor Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
LAND & LIVESTOCK— A special section of IN PRACTICE In a Drought—Trapping Sunshine Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
In Tall Grass Pastures—Enhancing Animal Performance Ian Mitchell-Innes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Savory Center Bulletin Board Savory Center Forum Marketplace
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