December 7, 2011

Harvesting Landscape and Livelihood 2011
by Dave Morris

The latest edition of Landscape and Livelihood wrapped up at the end of October. The outcomes of this sprawling experience are myriad; they ripple out from the Swan-Seeley communities into all the places our students call home, and beyond into the people and places who are connected to us all. Who knows if or how the spark of an idea born here will ignite somewhere far away in space and time?

One way to take a stab at summarizing the students' experience is to describe the Conservation and Community Research projects the students worked on throughout the semester, and presented to the community and NW Connections staff. These projects were not meant to encapsulate everything that happened, but they can give you some ideas about the directions our students are heading after a fall in the Swan.

Diani with Leita Anderson

Diani Taylor delved into the historical Swan Valley photos to find the origins of the landscape and community we see now. She found images of pet deer, grand ranches, and beloved lakes, and then went out to re-take the photos and see what she could find out about now. The lively stories she found gave her insights into places she had only just come to know, and a great appreciation for the people who have inhabited and conserved them. Diani also discovered a talent as a storyteller and as an historian, skills she hopes to use in her work on her family’s shellfish farm in Washington State.

Charlie Smillie used his time on this research project to delve into writing a grand essay inspired by his childhood involvement in conservation and his current explorations of the Swan Valley with Northwest Connections. His central question is this: “How might our livelihoods and the living earth that sustains us share a more prosperous and resilient future?” Would you like to know his thoughts on this rather important topic? We will let you know when and where Charlie is able to get it published.

Riley Clement literally dug into the Swan Valley for his project, which involved constructing some “hugelculture” beds for our new garden at the Beck homestead. These beds use trenches filled with layers of gravel, decaying wood, and soil to provide plants with water and nutrients needed to grow in a tough gardening environment such as the Swan. It was a lot of hard work, but we will literally be enjoying its fruits for years to come. And we will be monitoring the various treatments used to learn more about the utility of hugelculture for producing local food.

Sarah Velk believes that early education is crucial for effective conservation ethics. But rather than laying out a curriculum based on her understanding of priorities, she went out into the community and asked what people in the Swan believe kids growing up here should know about their place. She recorded these interviews, took some photos, and created a website to share these thoughts and perspectives with the community. This could be the start of useful conversations about teaching, the values of this place, and how to lay the groundwork of education for the future.

Erin Williams had a thousand ideas about how to communicate the amazing earning experiences she was having on Landscape and Livelihood. She happily settled on writing a children’s book that sends a spunky woman (“Pearly Everlasting”) roaming through the diverse natural and human habitats of the Swan, in search of her favorite place. Erin worked hard to fit meaningful ideas into kid-friendly prose, and put her watercolor skills to work on the vibrant illustrations. With any luck you will be able to put this locally-grown book into a child’s hands soon!

Emile Legendre connected his early love of tracking in the Louisiana bayou country and his work teaching kids about natural history and survival skills with the culture and practice of tracking in the Swan. After interviewing several active trackers in the Valley, Emile drew up an essay about the importance of tracking and natural history for our understandings of science, education, and conservation.

Meara with Dixie and Neil Meyer

Meara Cassidy desires a farm and a home made by hand, just as many residents of the Swan Valley have created and maintained for generations. Log construction is a central part of that culture, and a skill that Meara will need for her future homestead. She traveled around the Valley interviewing people with diverse building styles and reasons for building with logs. Meara learned a great deal about the history of log building and its challenges and advantages. We look forward to visiting her home once it is built.

All these projects flow from the mixing of place, community, history, desire, and teaching. We look forward to tracing these projects as far as we can from their start here this fall.