Author: EEC Forest Stewardship

One of the most important concepts of restoration agriculture involves the cultivation of deep, rich, healthy topsoil. Soil that matters most in the terrestrial aspects of farming. The chemical makeup of soil determines what kind of habitat a landscape hosts, cultivation potential, and general ecologic health of a region. Topsoil takes thousands of years to form on its own, yet washes off the surface of exposed landscape in moments in a torrential rain. Here in The Pacific Northwest, we cut the trees and watched feet of beautiful soil rush down the hillsides, clogging waterways and filling The Salish Sea with the most precious layer of The Earth’s crust for habitation, which then destroyed fisheries along inland coastal ecosystems. We are still cutting trees and watching the topsoil wash away, yet we’re also manually removing the fertility of our land for development.

In our human quest to industrialize production, we’ve taken it into our monkey minds that we can control and enhance environment for the convenience of profit. We can’t eat money, but we can consume a lot of everything else with it. Excuse me if there is a tone of agitation within this writing, but the current method of operation humanity continues to embrace regarding land degradation astounds. I’m sure most people have watched a farm field or forest stand leveled by machinery to build a housing development or commercial strip mall. Here in the Duvall area, this has been a mounting trend since the early 90s. What I’ve noticed in witnessing this massive growth is the trucking of valuable topsoil from the construction sites, and the replacement of said soil with industrially composted micro-plastic ridden imposters hidden beneath sprawling lawn.

This was the original look of the lot before landscaping began- already, the topsoil had been scraped off and put in a huge pile further up the hillside for easy “shipping”. It’s usual for a new site to start by removing all the rich topsoil. The developers know the value of this soil, and plan to sell it off as development of the site progresses. Sometimes they haul it off as it’s being excavated to save space on the building site. It is never kept on site to be reused. That would be a loss in profit for many more than just the contractor. The amount of trucking involved alone costs a small fortune, soil is a heavy material to haul, and after the original topsoil is trucked out.

One of the greatest earners in topsoil removal is the soil compost company. King County is very active in composting agricultural, restaurant, and organic commercial waste. This is a good thing in many ways, but it’s also causing extreme detriment to soil and water quality across the county, and considering this practice is happening around the world, the impact is global. Compost has a high rate of micro-plastics in it as a side affect of using municipal waste inputs. There is so much compost created by human consumption, obligatory contracts have been drawn up to ensure the material has a place to go, compelling the use of compost in county projects.

The missing topsoil has not been found, but its priceless value makes it a coveted commodity. I’ve still not been able to track where the top soil goes, but there are traders in fresh topsoil ready to supply. It’s also important to know that the word “topsoil” has no legal definition, so anything can be sold as topsoil. Once you haul off the native topsoil of a space, whatever you replace it with will be subpar. The chemistry, bacteria, and content of in situ soil has evolved in its environment and with the local biome. Imagine the chemistry of soil, how it changes over thousands of years. Then it’s skinned right off the face of the earth and hauled away. After that, compaction from machines and the erection of completely alien compounds in the form of cement foundation lock the ground into dead space. Where daylight still connects with ground, highly manicured landscapes are formed with imported compost and cultivar plantings or lawn. Most artificial landscapes need heavy inputs to survive, including regular irrigation, nutrient replacement, and defense against predation from enthusiastic browsers like deer and pest insects. Before the invasion of development, most landscapes are easily able to maintain themselves, having evolved in place for many generations.

It’s not unusual for soil to be disrupted, in fact, soil is often improved by disturbance, usually from animal hooves aerating it with large herd movement across open terrain. Humans take that disruption to a new level, from lines dug to lay plumbing and electrical, to whole acres scraped clean to pour foundations or parking lots. If the topsoil was simply moved out of the way and then spread back out on the open places, there would be far less detriment to the soil. However, it would not afford a reason to put mass produced compost down, therefor causing a backlog in man made material that needs a place to go. Once the new soil is put down, there is a huge loss in biodiversity, soil microbes, and and influx of micro-plastics. It’s a lose lose for the soil and environment. Man’s complex engineering for self-serving consumption is damaging the living system that thrives without our manipulation. It’s also sad that we think the compost is a good thing, and if it weren’t for all the plastic byproducts that find there way into mass produced systems, it would.

At EEC, we create a lot of great compost- without plastics, but it’s a small scale system. We’re also not exporting our topsoil and requiring a replacement dressing. The soil is our whole mission here- reviving the fertility through microbial and bacterial encouragement- no chemical additives- beyond what comes out the end of our hard working grazers. That relationship between animals and the plants has been in place as a natural compost builder for as long at the two have been in existence- millions of years. Any food waste or carbon material like wood from construction scrap is absent of plastic, but in a huge system like Cedar Grove, our local municipal compost producer, the plastics are rampant. Many larger composting efforts- especially on industrial farms, produces high counts of micro plastics. Most of the contamination is not done of purpose, but the lasting legacy of plastics in the soil and water will be felt for generations to come.

The fruit is holding well through a summer of little water but great sun and warmth. Our zone 1 frost peach has received regular watering and watchful tending. This tree is trellised against the south side of a kitchen. As we continue to shape and train the branches, you’ll soon be able to pick a fresh peach through the open window. The tree also offers summer shade to keep the building cooler during summer heatwaves (nature’s air conditioning). Growing peach trees in Western Washington can be a great challenge. One of the most common afflictions to stone fruit- and especially peaches- is leaf curl fungus (Taphrina deformans). I’ve found that keeping the tree warm and dry during the spring dampness of our region is the solution. South facing building walls are a great heat reflector.

Another pair of fruit trees in our zone 3 area receive no water, but do rest at the edge of a slope transition where water gathers in a swale. These trees are being woven together into an arch on the front of a hedge being cultivated on contour across the landscape. These trees have also weathered more exposure (no shelter from a building or warm catchment), and sheep have grazed them back a few times before they finally got above browsing mouths. One of the two cultivars lost its grafted variant. I’ve not seen much fruit production, but there are some nice large peaches there none the less. They had amazing flavor, but also harbored earwigs in the pits- which did nothing to the fruit or great taste, but made for unwanted chase in the kitchen.

It’s a great year for the pear trees too. Our Bartlett Pear tree has the most fruit I’ve ever seen on it’s branches. It does not receive regular water, but does reside near a rain catchment system that has passive flow into the fruit trees when it rains. The fruit is not mature yet, so I am hedging my bets more will fall before they are ripe unless I start watering. This is the “game” with fruit trees- lots of flowers, lots of little fruits start to grow, then weather/deer and sheep brows/drought drop/hail storm will lead to the appearance of great harvest followed by vast attraction into a good pick with one or two pies to show for it (which can be enough). The other great challenge to my pears is birds. They know when the fruit is going to ripen and literally show up and wait nearby, counting the days, and pecking into the ripe flesh just as it starts to soften.

Apples are one of those dream fruits we all want in our perfect orchard layout. The indigenous folks that live in this bio-region cultivated a native Pacific Crab-apple in all their established villages. Today, a cultivar from far off Kazakhstan, a distant cousin of Malus fusca, has become a top cash crop for The State of Washington. Though you are far more likely to see extensive commercial orchards on The East Side of The Cascades, Malus domestica thrives across most temperate climates, including Western Washington.

At EEC, we have a well established grove of apple trees which have continuously provided fruit through late summer into early fall each year. A grey water system feeds the above photographed trees, which are still showing signs of drought- having a lot of fruit, but little flesh on each ovary. We’ve chosen not to irrigate these trees beyond the grey water, which is limited, being fed by a single kitchen sink. We will have plenty of apples, but this year, they may be small and dry from these older trees.

In another part of the land, a zone 3 orchard of very young trees- Mom’s orchard- is surviving with limited deep watering irrigation once a week. This is part of the establishment period, where the trees will need water to survive in drought years like this until their root balls mature. Eventually, they will cultivate enough canopy shade to require little water to survive. Once this orchard begins production, it will have a lifetime of about 15-20 years before climaxing production and then transitioning into native habitat with a planting of evergreen trees. In a typical industrial fruit orchard, there are many chemical additives to irrigation for growth assistance, and topical sprays of endless varieties to combat fungus and insect damage. We have no chemicals on the land and do not need them- it’s more important at EEC Forest Stewardship for the ecology as a whole to be integrated. This means we work with many different kinds of fruiting plants to prevent a massive crop failure. If one type of apple tree gets sick, it will not spread easily to other kinds of fruit trees. Insects have so much choice, they don’t tend to attack any one tree enough to offset its production. Climate is out biggest threat, as heat will stress the trees into dropping fruit before it’s ripe.

Our most productive fruit comes from berry bushes. The two mature blueberry shrubs on the land are sometimes accosted by sheep- but this year we managed to protect them and still have berries on the bush. The most prolific and abundant berries are those of Rubus armeniacus. This species is an invasive of Western Washington, and a bane to many cultivators. However, its has come to play a significant role in covering up bare landscape where temperate rainforest has been removed, and produces a juicy, yummy fruit. We’re harvesting over five gallons worth (it only takes about an hour to harvest that much) to make wine this year (2021). Blackberry can also be used to make jams and jelly, pies, smoothies, and freezes easily, like most fruit, to be enjoyed later in the dark winter months, when fruit is a welcomed sweet treat.

Fruit trees are such a dream come true here on the land, and having acquired an acreage which already had well established trees on the landscape helped a lot in getting a good harvest from the start. Out of the trees I’ve planted since, only a few are actually producing now. It can take about five years before you enjoy the fruits of your labors, so if you are planning fruit trees, plant them NOW. I’ve staggered my plantings a bit, first making sure I had the water systems in place to manage larger plantings. If you don’t irrigate your fruit, you’ll have much less production. Here in The Pacific Northwest, there are also so many native fruits on the landscape- though they are not apples and oranges- to be sure. Still, it’s good to look at what has already evolved in the area, and roses do well, so apples are good; there are native cherries, so plant those, and berries are a must- but there are so many native ones, I’ve not focused on them as cultivars. Our stone fruit is hit or miss. The native oso berry is a small fruit that is like a plumb, but tastes like cucumber. Plumbs can do well here, but the three I’ve planted have struggled, and two lost their grafted producer and are now root stock suckers- not fruit producers. That’s ok, because I can always graft something else on, and flowers for pollination still happen in the mean time.

If you are planning fruit trees into your land, take the time to look at what verities are already doing well in your climate. Try to seek out older heritage verities which are designed to work in diverse climate shifts. Also take to heart the time and energy you’ll need to keep fruit trees productive. You have to do major thinning each winter, and for EEC, it takes weeks to prune all our trees for maximum productivity. We also accept blight and bugs without putting up much fight. Some people do monthly sprays and costly amendments to boost their harvests. That’s not the holistic way, and ends up being a struggle you’ll loose in the long run. Fruit trees just don’t have a long life, and neither will you if you are constantly babying them into production. Quality of life should always outweigh quantity of production- especially if you are a homesteader or croft tender. In this neck of the woods- you always have blackberry to fall back on as a solid fruit crop, no matter what your cultivars do.

Since the start of COVID-19, unprecedented numbers of people have been going outside into nature as an alternative to crowded cities. Here in Western Washington, there has been a 30% increase in outdoor recreation in the past decade. Impacts of this rise in use can be felt across all aspects of local ecology- from hiking trails to ATV parks, the environment has taken a beating from people trying to get outside, and often having no clue how to do so in a mindful and light footed way. One area of the population trying to implement studies to show the detrimental impacts of human access into wilderness is The Tulalip Tribe. Their study- The “Recreation Boom” on Public Lands in Western Washington: Impacts to Wildlife and Implications for Treaty Tribes is an eye opener for anyone curious about the effect human recreation has on the nature we love and enjoy. It’s a classic case of misuse and abuse which stems from ignorance. People seem to think wilderness is theirs for the taking- no surprise, and even the outdoor enthusiasts who label themselves environmentally friendly, are often doing the most harm in their pursuits.

To be clear- we should all be getting outside and putting eyes on the environment, immersing ourselves in it, and forming deep connection. But the way in which people often try to embrace nature, without an understanding of personal impact, does the most harm. It seems to be a sort of damned if we do, damned if we don’t situation. Restricting access to nature cuts people off from forming connection with it, thus removing conservation mindfulness all together. If we are not out there being a part of the natural world, it makes it easier to forget it, inviting industry to come and extract from it instead. Getting outside for nature connection is also a privilege many people cannot afford due to a lack of finances, transportation, gear, or how to. It is this last one, the how to, which is causing the greatest conflict with retaining a healthy balance between nature and man.

My partner and I have been doing a lot of overnight camping this summer and keep running into two major issues on the trail- used toilet paper on the open ground (often near a wild water source) and trash in established fire pits. These are two very large issues because they cause the eventual shut down of public access to wilderness space, pollute water sources and soil, and demonstrate a severe lack of understanding or care of wild spaces. It was especially frustrating at our established camp site in a recent overnight, where a vault toilet was installed for latrine use, that even with proper signage and flagging to show where the toilet was, there was still rampant pop a squat anywhere evidence- people didn’t understand that there was a toilet nearby- they just saw a sign that said “toilet” and walked over to do their business on the open ground. Never mind “leave no trace”- there is a complete loss of outdoor ethics as more an more inexperienced people venture out into nature. It was very apparent at every campsite we stayed at.

Along with discarded refuse, the erosion of the trails themselves was prevalent. This overuse struggle is happening all over the world. Here’s one article about east coast trails and the traffic on them. The time-laps video of a day on the trail was most revealing. In our eagerness to find nature, we’re loosing it, and the lack of leave no trace ethics in combination with a mindset that believes nature is something to exploit, rather than respect will ultimately destroy out wilderness and make it impossible to enjoy. This telling toll through recreation accesses reflects a much more systemic problem at play in our world- overpopulation. Rather than sit here griping about the world’s crowding out, I’d like to reflect again on the way people treat the natural world. When we go out into wilderness, there are very important ethics in out treatment of the environment, which dictates if that environment will remain wild and thriving for us to return to again and again. We have to understand how much devistation our visitation renders, and often, acknowledge that our impact might not be the best thing for a place, no matter how beautiful and wild it might be to enjoy.

The Boletus family is a great group to know here in Western Washington. They are prolific throughout all seasons and some are easy to identify and harvest- though I will not teach that here- face to face mushroom learning in the field is always best. Please contact me, escocrain@gmail.com, for opportunities to join adventures in mushroom I.D. time. The fall is always bets, but this summer, during incredible drought, we took time to wander up into higher elevations (above 4,000 ft.) to find some fungal friends. These pictures of Boletes are hard to identify, but I thoughts they were bitter boletes of some kind, and left them. There were a number of slime molds out- not unexpected for this time of year with the heat. But even some oyster like verities were peeking out loners from under the duff. With such little water available, these great mushrooms were still finding the moisture where they could, and making the best of it.

The Central Cascades are full of moisture, even when the clouds refuse to burst. Mysts cloak these towering crags with all the humidity a mushroom needs to flourish, though when it does start raining again later this fall, The Mushroom Spring will arrive. These pictures are of solitary, or small groups of late summer stragglers in the fungal kingdom. By October, the mountains will be awash in bloom with all kinds of fungal families- including many that people love to eat. Right now in August, it’s best to document species, but let them be. The slime molds, like Dog Vomit, are bright and colorful, but send a message of disgust in more ways than one. Note that breathing in the spores has been known to trigger asthma in some people. Yet it’s one of the most brightly colored creatures biding its slime on the trail during our ascent.

An often underappreciated year round species of fungus among us is Red Belted Conk. This Polypore thrives on dead wood, and can be found bracketed along decaying trunks and downed logs. On a warm August day, you can see drips of clear liquid forming on white flesh of these awesome mushrooms. This is called Fungal Guttation, and it’s an amazing source of water for many insects and small mammals. A person could lick the moisture too- though it won’t give you much re-hydration- better to leave it for other forest friends. Our hike took us through a well established forest- one might even call it older growth, as at the elevation we were ascending to, size is stunted. We still saw a lot of large, majestic giants towering in a canopy cathedral above. There were still signs of logging, but many mature trees stood tall.

By the time we reached our highest point on the trail, glaciers were in view, and the snow melt from last winter was still blanketing sheltered shady spots around us. This slow melt was also hydrating the surrounding flora and fauna, keeping the landscape lush and alive. We camped at an established site along a picturesque ridge and kept an eye out for more mushrooms in the woods. Surprisingly, there were none around a nearby body of water or along the snow melt. Still, morning mists lingered the next day before another scorcher enveloped us on our decent. We found a few more boletes popping out of the dry duff and wondered at the awkward angles the caps protruded from the needles. Again, it’s late summer, and the general atmosphere is not conducive to great mushroom production.

Mushrooms can tell us a lot about climate conditions and ecological health in the environment. Though most fungi prefer damp, cool conditions, many will throw caution to the wind in a chance to repopulate through spore spreading in any wet window. Because The Cascades captures so much moisture off The Pacific Ocean, even summer drought season can produce enough humidity to cultivate the right climate for all kinds of amazing mushrooms. Take a moment to look around, even in dry places, especially at elevation. If you find fungus, document the species as best you can and note the landscape and any recent precipitation. As our world continues to dry out and heat up, we’ll see the mushrooms adapting rapidly, which is why its such a successful kingdom in the natural world.

When people ask me about EEC Forest Stewardship as a farm, they have a certain understanding of what farming means, and usually end up calling my endeavors to produce food “subsistence” farming. This term is arrived at because I state that the farm is not a money making endeavor- as in- not for profit. Farms are not usually designated as non-profit, and I explain that EEC is not an industrial production center. The definition subsistence is arrived at through what I believe is a serious misconception fueled by ignorance. Today I’d like to clear up a few things about agriculture to shift our understanding of farming and the realities of food production in this country.

It seems today that the general public believes farming is ether big business or subsistence, as though there are no other avenues or opportunities in agriculture beyond money- this trend can be traced across all aspects of our economy, profits determine productivity. Where food is concerned, this is certainly an alarming trend, because eating is a requirement for survival, and putting a price on food has always been a dangerous liaison. At EEC, our animal systems break even, and sometimes provide a little surplus in financial gain. We raise many more animals that we need to survive here, so we’re well past the “subsistence” category, by definition. But when I say the farm is not my main source of income, and more specifically, that I do not engage in industrial agriculture, it is assumed the farming is sub-whatever. How far from the truth this is.

Restoration agriculture is priceless. I’ve written a few articles about how much the livestock systems add to the fertility of the land, as well as the larder, but that’s not how agriculture is taught- if it’s taught at all. Most people see only profit status, like in their own work place, and if you say you are not producing said profits, you’re subpar- subsistence. Based on money alone as the measurement, we should then include all the subsidies that industrial farms receive for their viability. Most farms at least have a tax # which provides discounts on purchases related to agriculture. This can be anything from seed for planting, to oil for the tractor, to hay for the animals. EEC does not have a tax #, though we have filed F4 tax papers as a legitimate agricultural business, we do not take advantage of any subsidies and remain independent of government “handouts”. This is more than most for profit farms can claim.

It is a sad fact that most farming would not survive without subsidies, and I am all in favor for them while we operate in a broken Neo-liberal capitalist system which serves only one cause- making money. When your goal is producing food, you will always come out in the red, as food is not valued as it should be, considered it’s a required input for survival. Instead, the majority of crop production in this country, and many others, are labeled “soft” commodities, and traded as such. Food is group in with oil and gold- a sad state of affairs in our modern industrial complex. So when you think of a small family farm with a picturesque big red barn, you’re romanticizing the industry, which whitewashes agriculture to hide the truth of food production from the consumer. If people had to pay the actual cost of food, most could not afford it- many still can’t even now, with the subsidies.

At EEC, we produce enough eggs and lamb to sell in a small word of mouth, slow food community. This allows us to work within the unpredictability of production without hard line requirements and penalization if we can’t meet a certain number each year. This is a major sticking point in industrial agricultural- you have to meet the production numbers so there are not shortages. Consequently, most large producers overproduce and end up with a gluttony of product they then dump- literally pour out on the ground, burn, compost, or destroy in some other way, to keep prices stable. When the production fails- which can happen quite often in nature through natural disasters, disease, or climate change- farmers still get insurance payouts or more subsidies to get them through a bad year. In 2020, industrial farmers received nearly 40% of their income from government subsides. That’s a cash cow I’d like to be raising- who wouldn’t?

This land produces a reasonable amount of eggs and lamb, but also produces a few fruit trees, veggies from the kitchen garden, fertility to enhance production in the soil without chemical inputs, and hosts a small number of tenants who pay a predictable monthly rental income. When all this gets added up, EEC is certainly providing enough income to support the cost of production, taxes, and paying the bills, so are we really just subsisting? My personal expenses are not covered by these productions, so I run a consulting firm on the side to help other people setting up their land production and smart restoration systems. I use my land as a sort of demonstration space to show potential clients what these systems look like and how successful they are. Is that subsistence farming? No, but when you tell someone you don’t make money off your production, that’s what they seem to think. Yet people also forget that industrial agriculture is only profitable with government subsidies.

I think most agriculture would still be subsistence if we didn’t subsidize it. Though to be clear- my sheep reproduce well, and I sell about 6-8 animals a year. USDA considers anything less than 500 small. On a national scale, that is a tiny fraction of global production, but to a small hill farmer like me, it’s enough to pay the cost of hay and salt, as well as fencing, LGD food cost, and a little extra for when I buy new stock to improve my herd genetics. None of this is subsidized, though I could apply for some, especially in my tax filing with the F4. But I don’t like to play those money games, and think we should be paying what things are actually worth- especially food. What I ask for in payment for a lamb is about $14/lb., but you only pay about $11 at COSTCO (non-organic), but it’s $14/lb. for organic, so I’m asking what market price is. Yet I’m not getting a subsidy on top of that. Why not take a subsidy- because I am not subsistence farming!

Please take time to look into food legislation- here are some helpful sites I recommend beyond this blog:

Who Funds Agriculture? (OpenSecrets.org)<– wow! follow the $$$

Food Politics– Marion Nestle

Mother Earth News

Farm Programs

Treehugger

The hot summer weather takes its toll on the earth, turning a once lush green pasture golden brown. Though it may seem like life has gone, if you stand still for a moment and listen, you’ll hear a chorus of thriving small symphonies in the tall grass. Strangely enough, this musical affirmation of a healthy ecosystem is not always present, especially in places which are heavily landscaped and chemically manipulated to keep “pests” out. Insects may be the bane of many a cultivator, even here at EEC, some verities of creepy crawlies are not welcome so easily- especially when they eat the crops we’re trying to grow. Though we may struggle with some pests, most of our insects species play vital roles in pollination, natural deterrent to pest species, or as a food source for other animals further up the food chain. The sound of insect activity on the landscape is an indicator of health in the ecosystem. If you go outside on a warm day and stand in silence, there’s a crucial part of the environment missing. Most of the absents is caused by chemical inhibitors- pesticides.

Listen up in your neighborhood to see who’s thriving, and who’s spraying to keep insects away. You might be surprised to find a deafening silence in parks, backyards, sports fields, and other open spaces where lawn management occurs. People are usually grossed out by bugs, and I’ll say we do have citronella candles on our porch to keep mosquitos away, but at EEC, we use no harmful chemical pesticides. I have invested in neem oil and mild soapy water to fight off scale and aphids in the garden, but I can’t imagine putting any harmful chemicals on the land en-mass to deter insects. Often, sprays like roundup kill all insects, not just the one or two kinds eating your fruit and veggies. Dragonflies, lacewings, and honey bees are all killed along with the mites, weevils, and web worms. In the same way I hand pull invasive weeds, I hand pluck the insects off my crops, but there will always be a few left. That’s more in line with nature, even if I don’t like them there. It’s important to acknowledge the role all living things play in an intact ecosystem.

There is a movement right now to give land honoring statements at the start of invocations to honor the First Nations People who once claimed the land as their home territory. Maps like the one pictured above are usually referenced to help people find out who once lived where they are now. In checking this map, I’ve marked where EEC Forest Stewardship land is, and noted that the two closest tribes- Duwamish and Snoqualmie, did not roam on the ridge line where I now live. The light green color that does stretch across quite a bit of the map, including EEC, is labeled “Coastal Salish”. Salish is an anglicization European colonizers gave to all the “Indians” in the area after first contact with one group of Séliš, the first people to have diplomatic relations with colonizers. It was then used as a broad term for linguistic research. There is no specific “Coastal Salish” tribe.

Euro-centric thinking requires that maps of clearly labeled “territories” show us where settlement occur, both before colonization, and after. It’s the same thinking that puts everyone and everything into a neat little box with properly measured constraints and titles. It cannot show us the actual migration routs, seasonal villages, and tribal larders, which were tended and harvested across the globe before colonial mapping. Archeology in my area shows that First Nations People thrived along the coast, and inland along the major rivers, where salmon were plentiful. They had no reason to hike though the dense forest up onto ridge lines where there were no fish or navigable waters to canoe. EEC is located in a place that was not part of any tribal settlement, food source, or ceremonial space. It was the home to Wapiti, Black-tail Deer, and Salmon fry- which would later return to the larger Snoqualmie River below to feed the people.

Before 1855, with The Treaty of Point Elliott, no people were wandering the space where EEC stands today. Soon after the treaty, loggers came into The Snoqualmie Valley and began clear cutting the forests to make way for settlers. Duvall, the township this land is affiliated with, was not incorporated until 1912. By then, The Tribes had been relocated onto reservations, the elk hunted to the brink of extinction, and the salmon harvested by industrious European colonizers who cared nothing for keeping any natural covenant with the land or its flora and fauna. A large timber company called Weyerhaeuser was founded in 1904, and quickly purchased forests across Washington State, from The Great Northern Railway. The railway, working with government agencies pushing westward expansion, took land once acknowledged in earlier treaties as “Indian Territory”, and gave it to settlers eager to homestead.

These images of white settlers coming in and taking the aggregated land once stewarded and lived on by First Nations People, is the gist of asking, “who once inhabited the land you now live on?”. Certainly, the timber industry that first pillaged the native forest on this ridge line was destroying virgin growth and incredible habitat that sustained the wildlife and plants, which supported the humans living in this area. The closest well established village of First Nations People to EEC, was in the current town of Carnation, once the town of Tolt, on the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie Rivers. The tribe named for the dominate river in the valley, The Snoqualmie, had a great salmon harvesting camp there, and established year round habitation. When the fish were not spawning, the elk and deer were still plentiful. There are also oral stories passed down from local tribes people of the camas fields, which once thrived in the Snoqualmie River Valley. Now all that bounty is lost, along with the understanding of how people are meant to be stewards of the land.

At EEC Forest Stewardship, we hold back on fantasizing about a complete return to virgin forest, but instead work on the restoration of abundance within the ecosystem left after over a century of degradation. The stream that once hosted millions of salmon and trout spawn, can still host the fish, and sculpins, and endangered fresh water mussels, though only a shadow of what they once were. The creek has been designated as a protected salmanoid stream, preventing future development and destruction of vegetation along its banks. We’ve enhanced the stream buffer with native replanting, to help establish new wildlife corridors through the now fenced patchwork of parcels the land has been segmented into for private ownership. No more elk wander these ridge lines, but they are close, in the nearby valley where The Snoqualmie Tribe once lived, a resident herd is protected. The land here will never be what it was, but it can become a forest again, adapting with human caused climate change to produce tree species that are more able to cope with droughts and hot temperatures now appearing on the record books in 2021.

Regardless of human impact, the land remains a living ecosystem that humans are a part of, but cannot own, no matter how much we attempt to subjugate. The continued colonization of this earth will only end in our destruction, as long as we keep endorsing a mindset of ownership and dominion. The land is not for us to use, but a place to connect, steward, to listen and learn from. We are lucky here in The Pacific Northwest, where the land is still lush and fertile, capable of supporting such a wealth of diversity and abundance. The question of who owns a place can easily be answered today with written deeds and legal demarcations on a map, but the soul of a place, its living ecology, cannot be boxed up or listed on a piece of paper. This sort of short sighted thinking has only lead us down a path of limitations and permanent displacement of our own kind. Humankind has original instructions to be caretakers of the land, and until we return to this mindset, the true natives of this place- Western Red Cedar, Salmon, Bald Eagle, Garter Snake, and the other wild things that make up our planet, will continue to follow their original instruction, laid out thousands of years before humans stepped onto the world stage. It is this wildness, which the land will forever belong to.

This beautiful pair of black tail deer bucks are hanging out around EEC Forest Stewardship. It’s the first time such a mature pair has been spotted around the land, and it’s a great sign of health our deer population is experiencing. In the above photo, the two males are still in velvet, as they grow a new pair of antlers each year before shedding them again at the end of the rut in late fall. I do not know for sure if these two deer are related, but it’s common for sibling males to stick together, forming a bachelor herd. They might also team up to claim a harem of does to share during breeding season. Cooperation wins in the end, and for these bucks, that win is genetic and territorial. They can work together to push out other younger, less dominate bucks, while impressing the does with two sets of large racks. For me as a hunter, this availability of mature bucks in the neighborhood is a great encouragement. In the last three harvests of bucks on the property, the animals were younger and less experienced. I do not hunt for antlers, but take what animal is offered during the short, two week hunting season in October.

Hunting gives me a lot of insight into the population of deer in my area. I have to do a lot of observing, tracking, and sign reading before a successful harvest. Most good hunters are always watching for deer, and learning from them. Year round I look at deer, see where they move, how many hang out, and the overall health of the local herd. Black tail are territorial, like many other animals, and usually stay in a particular area once they find enough food, water, and shelter. Our neighborhood has a lot of single homes on larger acreages, allowing for the space and habitat the deer prefer. Mowed pastures and a diversity of plants along the edges to brows, are ideal for these ungulates. I’ve watched a lot of does with younger fawns this summer, but these two males are a real treat. It tells me the herd are healthy by age- mature males are a good sign that the deer can reach maturity, and support multiple big bucks. If there was not enough food or shelter, the bigger males tend to wander away into more established habitat beyond human settlement.

It’s important to note that not all deer species act the same. I’m talking about the habits of Odocoileus hemionus columbianus, this is a subspecies of mule deer that range exclusively on the west coast, and specifically Western Washington, within our state. On the east side of the mountains, you will find typical mule deer Odocoileus hemionus, and some white tail deer Odocoileus virginianus. I’ve included range maps below to show the variety and diversity of Odocoileus in North America. The map on left in darker brown is white tail, the right is mule deer and sub species, including the black tail of Western Washington. There’s a lot yet to be discovered relationships between these species and the diversity of habits they share and don’t share. For me, the lessons of black tail deer do not cross over to other deer species, and I am sure I’d have a lot more to learn if I tried to pursue mule deer or white tail during hunting season.

My passion for black tail lessons is entering it’s 9th year, and I’m so glad to see these two strapping bucks coming around before the season starts. If I’m lucky, they will establish this area as a territory, and claim the doe population as their harem this fall. They could be driven out by another more mature buck, but as a team, they have a good chance of standing their ground and fending off single bucks together. It’s a great strategy, and I’m not sure how often this approach happens. My observations of these two beautiful animals will continue, and I hope to have the privilege of hunting one of them successfully this fall. It would be my first mature buck harvest, and that would be a special gift from the animals I tend this land for. The deer feed me as much as I feed them, and that sacred relationship remains an important covenant with the land. It reinforces my place in the great circle of life, and to harvest wild food of all kinds- berries, greens, and meat, ties me closer to the land I love so much.

When we as humans take the time to bind ourselves to the land, in ways that truly help us and nature survive and thrive, we become part of that land, not just visitors passing through. We learn the way of it- how it is all bound into one ecology together, with people playing an important role in that relationship as threads in the living tapestry of nature. We are never separate from it, not matter how high up the food chain we think we are. With each successful harvest, I give thanks and speak the words, “As I am fed from your body, one day mine too will become the grass for your future generations to graze upon.”

Above is a swarm of bees gathered in Duvall proper loading in to a transport box. Once the queen is located and boxed up, the rest of the hive-to-be will follow after her into the larger swarm box. My neighbor gifted these bees to EEC Forest Stewardship, after moving the box into the trunk of her car and driving them over to our land for instillation in a hive box. We’re so happy to have a buzzing hive again, and hope that this time, we can adequately support the colony in establishing and surviving. Our last colony, in 2018, swarmed and ran off mid-summer after not sufficiently settling in our supplied hive setup. We may never know exactly what happened, but I think we waited too long to stack a second brood chamber on, causing too much crowding in the hive, which signaled the queen to move out to find a lager home. Lessons learned, and we have two extra brood boxes to insert if needed.

Our hives are Langstroth, 10 frame, supers- meaning they are bulky and heavy when full of honey. We do not stack them too high, but as honey bees (Apis mellifera) are struggling to survive in current industrial agricultural and suburban backyard chemical control agents. The bees also face many biological struggles, such as pandemics, parasites, and an extinction event. Human domestication has evolved this species to be productive, but sadly, with this genetic selection, the bees are susceptible to disease and predation. How you ask? Honey bees are exposed to many industrial chemicals in the pollen of treated plants, poison sprays in the air, and pollution of wild water and food sources bees have relied on for centuries. Then add in the docile nature of honey bees, really, they are chill compared to most wild bee species. I walk up to my hive and make changes in the stacked hives without too much worry (there are some exceptions at certain times of year when the been can be more aggressive). One particular behavior- swarming- is a great time to handle bees, though it may seem chaotic and rather aggravated. The bees are gathering, with all their attention on the queen. They want to mass up and find a good hive space, so if you gather them in a box and relocate them to a good hive with some food nearby, it’s possible to resettle them without being stung. Watching thousands of flying insects synchronize with a bee keeper in being rounded up and settled, usually with a car ride in between, is miraculous.

Keeping honey bees is a great endeavor, and EEC does not take it lightly that a swarm was gifted to this land. We’ll be taking on some ethical challenges in supporting this species on the land. We’re feeding the bees white granulated sugar- which is an incredibly tainted product both chemically (bleach and industrial ag pesticides) and ethically (history of slavery and local economic abuse). Not to mention world health effects (diabetes and obesity). We’ll also have to use drastic methods of chemical warfare against mites and viruses attacking the colony. Sterilizing all hives and tools is crucial in protecting established colonies, still, chances are, without several colonies established, you’ll end up loosing too many bees from one hive to keep it alive, especially in our wet, cool winters. Western Washington is a great habitat for honey bees, as far as floral abundance and diversity, as well as mild winters, but until recent climate change, this land remained too cold for bees to thrive. Now, with triple digit summer highs becoming a norm, the bees can make it year round. But Apis is not the only insect to thrive in these warming weather systems. Wasp species such as Vespa mandarinia (“murder hornets”) have made their appearance in Washington state two summers in a row now, and we think they will establish in future. That could be the final nail in the honey bee coffin, as Asian giant hornets specialize in destroying honey bee colonies by decapitation.

But hey, we’re always up for supporting entomological agriculture (insect farming) here at EEC- we’ve been cultivating meal worms since 2015. Bees are in their second “incarnation here on the land, and it’s hopeful we can learn much more about this species and hopefully slow the decline of this very important domestic producer. For now we’ll keep bees and be thankful for the additional pollination and system lessons here at EEC Forest Stewardship. The colony will also be a litmus for our land’s health, and possible surrounding ecological indicators we should be aware of, such as neighbor’s chemical use, pollen availability and diversity, and potential invasive hazards. We’ll give future updates on the colony’s health and success (or failure) as we attempt to again host these amazing animals at EEC.

EEC Forest Stewardship’s main mission is to restore a forested ecosystem capable of climaxing through climate change and human development. Our landscape was once Temperate Rainforest, with thousand year old canopy in a thriving network of complex systems. Within less than 100 years, European settlers had completely leveled the forests and today, less than 10% of old growth is left on the entire West Coast of The United States. I say this with little conviction, because studying a list of parks and protected areas listed as old growth on the west coast, I find examples like Seward Park near Seattle- 300 acres. Well, the entire park is 300 acres, but the “old growth” spoken of is a few scattered trees within a twice logged forest of much younger stands. In fact, there is more oak savanna in Seward than old growth rainforest. National Parks are truly protected, but state forests, though often forested, are usually in commercial logging contracts, and do get cut. Below are several satellite photos of forested areas where logging is very active within national forests and around national parks.

Please take some time on a satellite map online- google maps is what I used for these pictures- wander around the country, and the world for that matter, look at forests and see how much is missing- it’s hard to tell where they once were in many places- let’s just say, before European settlement, most areas of The West Coast were covered in old growth forests. Now, there is a vast opening, development, human settlement, and expansion continue to carve up what’s left of our forests. Trees are natural resources to be exploited, by bad management practices, that put prophets above long term human survival. In my lifetime, the last of our old growth will be gone in North America, with the exceptions of a few token places already in national parks- but for how long? I cannot even say with strong confidence, that even the land at EEC will forever be a forest. Even with protection, after a few generations and the whim of politics, any land can become a dollar amount on spread sheets. Then, it’s easy to turn public gaze away for just long enough to rip out the ecosystem- once its lost, there’s nothing to do but dig-dig-dig and drill-drill-drill.

We cannot yet fully measure the endless biodiversity in an intact, old growth forest. Some people make it all about the trees themselves, but they are just the surface fluff, much like the fruiting of a mushroom- what’s really happening lies below the soil’s surface, out of sight and mind of most people. When the trees are cut, that soil, and everything living in it begins to erode away down hillsides and slopes. Forests still around are often on slopes, that’s because we cleared them out of all the bottom land to grow crops, and no forests remain in vast river valleys across the world, where once, giant primeval realms of massive canopy spread above. People tend to settle near freshwater, on flat ground. The trees found sanctuary along the hills and mountains, until we followed them there to harvest for our endless consumption. Look at the island nations across the northern hemisphere- The British Isles- for instance- very few stands of trees, none of them old growth, and most grown for commercial industry, or protected in small parks. After they cut their own trees over a few thousand years, England came to North America and fell more grate forests, slowly at first, but in time, with the advent of more colonial migrations from Europe, the seemingly endless nature of “The New World” was almost completely gone in a few hundred years.

We’re still only looking at trees- if you look at the loss of top soil- we’re way ahead, less than a few inches left from tens of feet lost due to tilling. It takes thousands of years for an intact ecosystem to create topsoil, and in less than 100, here in the USA, we’ve taken most of it off and thrown it down divers and into the air where it disappears into oceans. If I take any time talking about oceanic collapse, we’ll get very depressed. My mind can only take so much desecration, so I do take comfort in knowing this planetary evolution climaxes and collapses occasionally, clearing the slate, so to speak, and that new chemical combinations in future might recreate thriving habitat millions of years into the future. It has in the past. Right now, we are conscious of our destructive actions as a species, and can change course to the best of our abilities. Each positive action towards regenerative ecology gives us stability for that much longer- I hope. EEC Forest is building fertility now, with little outside input, and a lot of animal help. The vegetation gets thicker and greener each year, with over 4 acres of replanted native growth. Blackberry retreats to reforestation, and canopy will soon shade the land, offering a place for water to stay in the soil and soak deep underground.

Again, it’s what’s happening out of sight that makes everything growing out of the ground possible. Take a close look at the ground around you- is it mostly paved, are the landscapes artificial, cultivated, or wild? How compacted is the soil, if there is any? What species are eking out a living, or thriving? Where does your drinking water come from? Where is most of the food you eat grown? When we shift from general nature questions into personal survival reflection, the truth about our species becomes very clear- most of us have very little to do with the ground we live on- literally. When was the last time your bare foot touched bare ground- not an artificial ground like cement or carpet? What privileged access to soil and growing things do you have? How important are your surroundings? These are just a few questions to ask and reflect on, a way to gauge the health and stability of your environment- as well as your personal mental and physical health. When we take time to look at the ground we live on, and connect to it, we become more rooted in self identity, common cause with our community, and more sensitive to environmental factors like pollution, urban decay, and social renewal. As Dr. Wessels pointed out- the most divers part of our ecology is out of sight- as is the diversity of any living structure, even human society. Keep your mind open and look beyond the surface structure, you’ll usually find compelling ground.