Many of us have engaged in correspondence and discussions about learning the practice of Holistic Management over the years. This blog will take our discussions to another level so we can get more holistic decision making on the ground, where we find meaningful leverage.
Finding Leverage for Life
Think about it. All life on our planet (as we know it) comes from the ecosystem processes. Improving the function of these processes will make life more resilient. Water begins to absorb, at the soil surface. Plants begin to germinate and grow, at the soil surface. Plants begin to decompose and build soil, at the soil surface. Tools effecting ecosystem function engage at the soil surface. The greatest marginal reaction and leverage point for improvement of life on our planet lies at the soil surface.
Empowering Decisions at the Soil Surface
This blog will explore how we can better develop markets, policy, investment, knowledge, and skill that will empower those making decisions at the soil surface.
The nature of flags seems to divide. My political party vs. yours, my country vs. yours, my state vs. yours. This flag? “We are Earthlings.”
Two years ago I posted this blog Fire & Brimstone. At the time, I thought the fire season couldn’t get any worse. Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost so much. Now is the time more than ever that we start acting like Earthlings and care for our one ecosystem.
Read MoreIt's been years in the making. My book is ready to publish. It's about overgrazing and recovery, disturbance, simplicity and complexity, diversity and homogeneity, life and death. And that's just the people. I also talk about land management, soil health, and finances. The story wraps around events and experiences unique to me, but the message touches all who live at, benefit from, or support those making decisions at the soil surface. In other words, everyone.
Read MoreForty years ago, at 8:32 AM, May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens leveled 230 square miles in the wake of its blast. Fifty-seven people, 7,000 big game animals, and countless fish and birds perished in the plume of death. In addition, 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railway, and 185 miles of highway destroyed.
A few hours earlier, and one-thousand miles away, my family was emotionally flattened when my dad died of a massive heart attack at 50 years of age. Mt. St. Helens spewed 540 million tons of ash over 22,000 square miles. Two hundred miles east of the volcano, ash-covered grass, so livestock owners had to feed hay. As the mourners filed out of the funeral home in Lander, WY, they had to turn on their wipers to clear the cinders from the windshield. I remember my aunt Sally wiping the memorabilia off the hood of her car and into a quart jar.
Read MoreParalysis, a reset, and restart allow us to see what we always thought to be true, differently. After looking at the nature of markets, I went to a Bud Williams marketing seminar. With my cleared brain, his perspective was brilliant. We don’t have to buy low and sell high to make money with our livestock. He explained that we are merely trading inventory. We sell an animal that will not add value and use that money to buy an animal that will add value. We are simply downloading animals that can best utilize the inventory of feed we have available. We learn that we buy our profit and make money on our grass, whether we are in an up market or a down market.
Getting a benefit from a threat takes a shift in perspective and focusing on what we are doing.
Read MoreThe Juliana River, whose name is now diminished to Little Creek was released from prison for a week this spring. A log jam plugged an irrigation diversion and pushed the churning, angry, water out across the relic flood plain. As it spread, the agitation calmed, the anger released, and the grass screened the sediment and embraced the nutrients before the river softly slipped back in the channel before reaching the City of Union's residential section, right above Edwin Baird's house.
Read MoreHolistic Management asks us to value diversity and complexity in our community of plants, animals, people, assets, cash flow, and life in general. The more diverse and complex our community, our resource base, the more resilient we will be. With resilience, we can better recover from disruption. And there will be disruptions.
People need to find their own way, which we can support by providing space. Physical, emotional, and economic safety are important elements of space. Feeling safe can only come within one’s changing context.
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