HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT GUIDE
Empowering Decisions at the Soil Surface
Photo by Hugh Donovan
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.
Blog overview
We Are earthlings
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.
Regenerating Soils and Souls Guided by Holistic Management
It'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.
It'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.
An Eruption. A Funeral. The Lessons.
Forty 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.