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Zone Definitions:
Zones are areas which we identify as having particular designations for management. The following table outlines in brief the 5 basic Permacultural zones we will refer to:
1) Domiciles – the homes and attendant buildings of industry for use by residents
2) Herbal and kitchen gardens –outdoor areas for resident food production & recreation
3) Animals and produce –areas for animal husbandry and food trade/production
4) Animal browse/woodlot –areas producing animal fodder and fuel wood
5) Conservation zones –those areas largely unmanaged, for conservation and recreation
The boundaries between these zones are not always distinct; in fact each zone has edge and that edge may overlap with other zones. Furthermore, these are also not concentric rings or discreet units; patches of one zone may exist within another. Zone 5, for instance, borders with zone 2 & 1 in several places at Abundance. Please see Appendix A for visual diagrams of zones and proximities at Abundance.
Major considerations for zone use and activities:
Zone One is where houses and industry exist. Presently, the construction of buildings at Abundance is proposed to meet three criteria:
1) The building is necessary for residential or educational goals of API.
2) The construction shall make primary in its materials those materials which are available onsite. Furthermore, materials brought from offsite will be low in embodied energy, recycled or recyclable, non toxic, and approved by the resident council. (a clear formula by volume, expense, material, etc., may make the realization of this guideline more easily quantifiable)
3) Construction process should be inclusive of residents and, when possible, construction should be used as an opportunity to pursue the goal of providing ecological education to neighboring communities.
For detailed discussion of these considerations, please see Appendix D: Methods & Materials, Section #3, Concerning Construction.
Zone Two is the herbal and kitchen garden areas. Owing to permaculture design, these areas will rarely exist more than 50 feet from the front door of any domicile. These areas are intensely stocked with annual and perennial multipurpose polyculture. Here native and non native food crops, often perennial shrubs or dwarf trees, perform the functions of cornerstone species. The functional endurance of this zone relies on a variety of factors which must be attended to with particular attention. Soils are the keystone of this zone, as they are for all zones (even zone one requires appropriate soils for loading and bearing domiciles and other buildings). Monitoring and culturing soil health using the best and most natural applications of knowledge and organic nutrients (compost, compost tea, effective microorganisms, native mulches, etc.) is essential to the longevity and productivity of this zone. Equally important is water handling; water should be encouraged, in the words of Permaculture designer and teacher Penny Livingston, to “walk rather than run”. Extensive use of swales, aggressive mulching, native edible plantings, appropriate use of keylines for roads, catchments for rooftops, and, below all else, in ground storage of water is to be practiced. Additionally, native insectaries must be encouraged for the purpose of providing pollinator habitat and food. Wasps, spiders, bats and other insect predators should be tolerated if not encouraged. Therefore, it is suggested that any use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides be highly discouraged, with use contingent on approval by a resident council. Onsite production of 70% of residential food needs is possible. For more information, Please see Appendix F: A Case Study in Food Security.
Zone Three is home to animals and trade foods production.
Due to the early phase in development of the CWAPI at the date of this draft, very little will be said about animal husbandry. From personal experience I would submit that the following bear consideration:
1) All animal rearing must be planned according to Permacultural principals and assessments.
2) Any rearing of animals must surpass state and federal free range & organic production standards;
3) No offensive odors or sounds, whether to residents or guests, may be regularly or consistently produced,
4) All animals must have a resident handler with a proven capacity to care for and maintain the health and vitality of said animals.
Stakeholders must determine if these guidelines, and others, should be implemented, and the ramifications of failure to fulfill the guidelines as stated in the ratified covenant.
Food production for trade is already becoming an important aspect of Abundance. At the time of this draft over 20 orchard trees are established, and approximately half an acre of land is designated for annual gardens. The orchard trees are presently being transitioned into an ‘edible forest garden’; this kind of planting has also been called a “perennial multipurpose polyculture” and “permanent agricultural forestry”. The total area devoted to this end is about 3 acres in lot #2. The purpose of this kind of planting is ‘multipurpose’: food for residents and trade is but one purpose. Fiber production, architectural woods, medicines, mulch/fertilizer production, and recreation are all provided for in the cultivation of this zone. While it will be decades before the architectural woods (walnut, apple, and pear) are ready for harvest, the other products of this lot are already streaming forth.
This zone also counts the soil as its primary benefactor, and otherwise adheres to the items noted for Zone Two regarding water, pollinators, and synthetic control of flora and fauna.
Zone Four is the woodlot and range land for animals. This composes the majority of the property, some 12+ acres. There is already a County approved Management Plan which places this stand in Open Land/ Small Forest Land taxation. As such, many decisions are already made for the future of this resource. Currently no animals are being reared at the site. The forest is being managed for the production of fuel woods, wild crafted foods, architectural woods and other resources. Primary to all of this activity, however, is conservation of existing biological diversity and populations, and re-establishment of historic species and guilds when possible. As with other zones, this begins with soil health. Thus, the same considerations for water use, etc., must be considered here as elsewhere. While application of compost is not typical or practical, mulching using remnants of processed trees is currently practiced. Other basic considerations include management goals, such as harvest of timber for onsite use, secondary production of wild-crafted understory crops, and successional ascension. About 12 acres of Zone Four across Lots #A, #1, and #2 are currently primarily stocked with 20 year old alder. These trees are rebuilding soils that were exposed after the forest was clear-cut in 1984/85. These soils, impacted by rain and sun, eroded and collapsed.
The alder, a native colonizer, reconditions this soil. The roots loft the soil, reducing compaction and encourage aeration. Furthermore, Alder hosts beneficial bacteria in its root rhizomes. The bacteria accumulate gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the atmosphere and soil, turning it into fertilizing ammonia. This is available to Alder as well as other plants, and is an overall boon to soil health near the alder. Along the edges of the alder stands, and in the younger patches, Salmon berries (Rubus spectabilis var. spectabilis) and Thimble berries (Rubus parviflorus var. parviflorus) thrive, and draw bees and birds to their forage and shelter. These natural insectaries provide the service of attracting pollinators to other plants who are not as common, but nonetheless need the service. The shaded and relatively cool understory provides cover for everyone from arthropods to elk.
The alder growth is but a stage in a succession of trees, and will in time be displaced by douglas fir and finally hemlock, the primary tree of the late successional canopy. Managing this successional ascension means our use also provides for the other species which call it home, even as the forest transitions through its successional dynamic. We must remember as we do this that we are one of those species that call it home, but only one. This means leaving intact the systems which allow other denizens to flourish.
In order to assure that other inhabitants of this site flourish, sustainable (as opposed to sustained) harvests will be our primary method of lumber extraction. Sustainable harvest is more akin to a conversation than a plan. It means adaptability to stand dynamics, watching what the trees do in response to human and other influences, ranging from their mychorizal associations with synergistic funguses, to invasion by biological vectors. In real terms, our sustainable harvest will be highly fluctuating- presently, about 1 in 3 Alder trees is marked for removal, leaving room for remnants to grow upright and increase in breadth. This phase of thinning will go on for 2-4 years. Current density of trees is 200 to 300 trees per acre. This also includes an abundance of wild cherries, which are a sister species to the alder, providing excellent bird forage, attracting migrating rock doves, grosbeaks, and various thrushes who come for the fruits and to browse insects which live in the canopy and intermediate canopy. Removing thin, overlong and windy stemmed trees encourages denser growth of berries and other foliage on the forest floor while allowing the remaining trees to thicken and become good saw logs. The removed trees are can be used for many onsite & export purposes, including firewood, architecture, furniture, and art. Their foliage is left to mulch in the understory, returning nutrients to the cycle. These trees, all of which are 10” diameter or less, are removed by hand, then cut and delivered to existing roads by way of human power rather than machine. Many logs are left for mushroom inoculation with both edible species and those that benefit the balance and health of the forests dynamic expressions. Some trees are left standing dead for habitat such as woodpecker browse. Wild berries appear in the gaps, where they are joined by fir and cedar trees which are planted so as to encourage the succession. Hemlock will arrive on its own.
Many species, floral and faunal, transient and entrenched, utilize this area for some or all aspects of their habitat needs. Several of these species activities provide key functions in the landscape, including pollination, seed and spore dispersion, decomposition, soil enrichment, erosion control, and fire suppression. While the alder is being removed rapidly at present, in three to five years the cull rate will drop to less than half the current rate. In 10 years the stand density will be about 120 Alder trees per acre. Wild cherry and cascara will balance the existing canopy, and under it will rise the Douglas fir and cedar. Alder and wild cherry grow to about 70 years of age. This means they have 50 years left; however, few will make it that far. In 30-40 years the fir that has been planted in the last few years will begin to compete with and crowd the alder out. At that time I will harvest much of the alder for saw logs, radically changing in the composition of lot #1. If Lot #B is acquired, portions-largely the mature alder- will be harvested and replanted with alder and other appropriate species, while other areas of Lot #B- primarily growing Douglas fir- will be allowed to continue mostly untouched. Basic considerations for this zone include preservation of the native soil food web, prevention of runoff, and conservation of biological diversity and integrity which allows for continuation of healthy & diverse populations of native species.
A full description of the woodlot management plan can be found in Appendix F: Woodlot Management.
Zone Five is the “conservation zone”. In this zone no removal of timber resources will be practiced excepting those trees which are disease vector threats- (eg, trees infected with an aggressive beetle infestation or pernicious fungus) , though non-infectious trees which threaten safety may be cut and left as habitat. Slopes which are in excess of 30% and all areas within 50’ of any stream are already considered to be in conservation according to our timber management plans, going 25’ beyond state laws requirements. In addition, 3 acres of Lot B, should it be acquired, will be placed in a no –touch conservation plan that allows for visitation for the purpose of education, but not extraction. There are many animal species which include or consider this stand their territory. Included among these are elk, deer, coyote, black bear, civet cat, porcupine, raccoon, bat, squirrel, chipmunk, pileated woodpecker, raven, grouse, great blue heron, owl, and various passerine birds, green tree frogs, red bellied newts, and a plethora of invertebrates. Some of these use the aged stand of trees in Lot #B as a stopover on their wanderings, as shelter in extremely inclement weather, etc. Others live their entire life in a few hundred square feet of this mature forest fragment, never wandering outside. The ultimate value of this zone is both long term and immediate: in the long term it acts a as a biological cache, a living museum of forest relations which have been all but lost elsewhere due to exploitation. This stand contains the oldest and largest trees for a mile in any direction. It exists on a high bluff from which the Columbia River lowlands, 1200 feet below and 10 miles distant, can be viewed. It is only 30 miles from brackish water, making it ideal marbled murrelet habitat, though none are documented here. However, it is certainly instances like this which, though valued for their future potential as restoration and preservation seed sites, are actually most valuable in the moment. Watching and listening to the Pileated woodpeckers drumbeat their lunch from a snag, or joining in with the howling coyotes are the types of experiences many who have visited Abundance will recall and cherish for years to come. This is why we leave zone 5 almost completely alone.
The exceptions to this hands off management are simple and few- non invasive scientific studies, eradication of vector and disease concerns, ecological education activities, and the construction and presence of tree sits and viewing platforms are the entirety of the recreational and educational activities currently under consideration for this zone. Use of these would be highly restricted, assuring that there will always be a place, even in our own home, where we remember that we are the guests.
Zones are areas which we identify as having particular designations for management. The following table outlines in brief the 5 basic Permacultural zones we will refer to:
1) Domiciles – the homes and attendant buildings of industry for use by residents
2) Herbal and kitchen gardens –outdoor areas for resident food production & recreation
3) Animals and produce –areas for animal husbandry and food trade/production
4) Animal browse/woodlot –areas producing animal fodder and fuel wood
5) Conservation zones –those areas largely unmanaged, for conservation and recreation
The boundaries between these zones are not always distinct; in fact each zone has edge and that edge may overlap with other zones. Furthermore, these are also not concentric rings or discreet units; patches of one zone may exist within another. Zone 5, for instance, borders with zone 2 & 1 in several places at Abundance. Please see Appendix A for visual diagrams of zones and proximities at Abundance.
Major considerations for zone use and activities:
Zone One is where houses and industry exist. Presently, the construction of buildings at Abundance is proposed to meet three criteria:
1) The building is necessary for residential or educational goals of API.
2) The construction shall make primary in its materials those materials which are available onsite. Furthermore, materials brought from offsite will be low in embodied energy, recycled or recyclable, non toxic, and approved by the resident council. (a clear formula by volume, expense, material, etc., may make the realization of this guideline more easily quantifiable)
3) Construction process should be inclusive of residents and, when possible, construction should be used as an opportunity to pursue the goal of providing ecological education to neighboring communities.
For detailed discussion of these considerations, please see Appendix D: Methods & Materials, Section #3, Concerning Construction.
Zone Two is the herbal and kitchen garden areas. Owing to permaculture design, these areas will rarely exist more than 50 feet from the front door of any domicile. These areas are intensely stocked with annual and perennial multipurpose polyculture. Here native and non native food crops, often perennial shrubs or dwarf trees, perform the functions of cornerstone species. The functional endurance of this zone relies on a variety of factors which must be attended to with particular attention. Soils are the keystone of this zone, as they are for all zones (even zone one requires appropriate soils for loading and bearing domiciles and other buildings). Monitoring and culturing soil health using the best and most natural applications of knowledge and organic nutrients (compost, compost tea, effective microorganisms, native mulches, etc.) is essential to the longevity and productivity of this zone. Equally important is water handling; water should be encouraged, in the words of Permaculture designer and teacher Penny Livingston, to “walk rather than run”. Extensive use of swales, aggressive mulching, native edible plantings, appropriate use of keylines for roads, catchments for rooftops, and, below all else, in ground storage of water is to be practiced. Additionally, native insectaries must be encouraged for the purpose of providing pollinator habitat and food. Wasps, spiders, bats and other insect predators should be tolerated if not encouraged. Therefore, it is suggested that any use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides be highly discouraged, with use contingent on approval by a resident council. Onsite production of 70% of residential food needs is possible. For more information, Please see Appendix F: A Case Study in Food Security.
Zone Three is home to animals and trade foods production.
Due to the early phase in development of the CWAPI at the date of this draft, very little will be said about animal husbandry. From personal experience I would submit that the following bear consideration:
1) All animal rearing must be planned according to Permacultural principals and assessments.
2) Any rearing of animals must surpass state and federal free range & organic production standards;
3) No offensive odors or sounds, whether to residents or guests, may be regularly or consistently produced,
4) All animals must have a resident handler with a proven capacity to care for and maintain the health and vitality of said animals.
Stakeholders must determine if these guidelines, and others, should be implemented, and the ramifications of failure to fulfill the guidelines as stated in the ratified covenant.
Food production for trade is already becoming an important aspect of Abundance. At the time of this draft over 20 orchard trees are established, and approximately half an acre of land is designated for annual gardens. The orchard trees are presently being transitioned into an ‘edible forest garden’; this kind of planting has also been called a “perennial multipurpose polyculture” and “permanent agricultural forestry”. The total area devoted to this end is about 3 acres in lot #2. The purpose of this kind of planting is ‘multipurpose’: food for residents and trade is but one purpose. Fiber production, architectural woods, medicines, mulch/fertilizer production, and recreation are all provided for in the cultivation of this zone. While it will be decades before the architectural woods (walnut, apple, and pear) are ready for harvest, the other products of this lot are already streaming forth.
This zone also counts the soil as its primary benefactor, and otherwise adheres to the items noted for Zone Two regarding water, pollinators, and synthetic control of flora and fauna.
Zone Four is the woodlot and range land for animals. This composes the majority of the property, some 12+ acres. There is already a County approved Management Plan which places this stand in Open Land/ Small Forest Land taxation. As such, many decisions are already made for the future of this resource. Currently no animals are being reared at the site. The forest is being managed for the production of fuel woods, wild crafted foods, architectural woods and other resources. Primary to all of this activity, however, is conservation of existing biological diversity and populations, and re-establishment of historic species and guilds when possible. As with other zones, this begins with soil health. Thus, the same considerations for water use, etc., must be considered here as elsewhere. While application of compost is not typical or practical, mulching using remnants of processed trees is currently practiced. Other basic considerations include management goals, such as harvest of timber for onsite use, secondary production of wild-crafted understory crops, and successional ascension. About 12 acres of Zone Four across Lots #A, #1, and #2 are currently primarily stocked with 20 year old alder. These trees are rebuilding soils that were exposed after the forest was clear-cut in 1984/85. These soils, impacted by rain and sun, eroded and collapsed.
The alder, a native colonizer, reconditions this soil. The roots loft the soil, reducing compaction and encourage aeration. Furthermore, Alder hosts beneficial bacteria in its root rhizomes. The bacteria accumulate gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the atmosphere and soil, turning it into fertilizing ammonia. This is available to Alder as well as other plants, and is an overall boon to soil health near the alder. Along the edges of the alder stands, and in the younger patches, Salmon berries (Rubus spectabilis var. spectabilis) and Thimble berries (Rubus parviflorus var. parviflorus) thrive, and draw bees and birds to their forage and shelter. These natural insectaries provide the service of attracting pollinators to other plants who are not as common, but nonetheless need the service. The shaded and relatively cool understory provides cover for everyone from arthropods to elk.
The alder growth is but a stage in a succession of trees, and will in time be displaced by douglas fir and finally hemlock, the primary tree of the late successional canopy. Managing this successional ascension means our use also provides for the other species which call it home, even as the forest transitions through its successional dynamic. We must remember as we do this that we are one of those species that call it home, but only one. This means leaving intact the systems which allow other denizens to flourish.
In order to assure that other inhabitants of this site flourish, sustainable (as opposed to sustained) harvests will be our primary method of lumber extraction. Sustainable harvest is more akin to a conversation than a plan. It means adaptability to stand dynamics, watching what the trees do in response to human and other influences, ranging from their mychorizal associations with synergistic funguses, to invasion by biological vectors. In real terms, our sustainable harvest will be highly fluctuating- presently, about 1 in 3 Alder trees is marked for removal, leaving room for remnants to grow upright and increase in breadth. This phase of thinning will go on for 2-4 years. Current density of trees is 200 to 300 trees per acre. This also includes an abundance of wild cherries, which are a sister species to the alder, providing excellent bird forage, attracting migrating rock doves, grosbeaks, and various thrushes who come for the fruits and to browse insects which live in the canopy and intermediate canopy. Removing thin, overlong and windy stemmed trees encourages denser growth of berries and other foliage on the forest floor while allowing the remaining trees to thicken and become good saw logs. The removed trees are can be used for many onsite & export purposes, including firewood, architecture, furniture, and art. Their foliage is left to mulch in the understory, returning nutrients to the cycle. These trees, all of which are 10” diameter or less, are removed by hand, then cut and delivered to existing roads by way of human power rather than machine. Many logs are left for mushroom inoculation with both edible species and those that benefit the balance and health of the forests dynamic expressions. Some trees are left standing dead for habitat such as woodpecker browse. Wild berries appear in the gaps, where they are joined by fir and cedar trees which are planted so as to encourage the succession. Hemlock will arrive on its own.
Many species, floral and faunal, transient and entrenched, utilize this area for some or all aspects of their habitat needs. Several of these species activities provide key functions in the landscape, including pollination, seed and spore dispersion, decomposition, soil enrichment, erosion control, and fire suppression. While the alder is being removed rapidly at present, in three to five years the cull rate will drop to less than half the current rate. In 10 years the stand density will be about 120 Alder trees per acre. Wild cherry and cascara will balance the existing canopy, and under it will rise the Douglas fir and cedar. Alder and wild cherry grow to about 70 years of age. This means they have 50 years left; however, few will make it that far. In 30-40 years the fir that has been planted in the last few years will begin to compete with and crowd the alder out. At that time I will harvest much of the alder for saw logs, radically changing in the composition of lot #1. If Lot #B is acquired, portions-largely the mature alder- will be harvested and replanted with alder and other appropriate species, while other areas of Lot #B- primarily growing Douglas fir- will be allowed to continue mostly untouched. Basic considerations for this zone include preservation of the native soil food web, prevention of runoff, and conservation of biological diversity and integrity which allows for continuation of healthy & diverse populations of native species.
A full description of the woodlot management plan can be found in Appendix F: Woodlot Management.
Zone Five is the “conservation zone”. In this zone no removal of timber resources will be practiced excepting those trees which are disease vector threats- (eg, trees infected with an aggressive beetle infestation or pernicious fungus) , though non-infectious trees which threaten safety may be cut and left as habitat. Slopes which are in excess of 30% and all areas within 50’ of any stream are already considered to be in conservation according to our timber management plans, going 25’ beyond state laws requirements. In addition, 3 acres of Lot B, should it be acquired, will be placed in a no –touch conservation plan that allows for visitation for the purpose of education, but not extraction. There are many animal species which include or consider this stand their territory. Included among these are elk, deer, coyote, black bear, civet cat, porcupine, raccoon, bat, squirrel, chipmunk, pileated woodpecker, raven, grouse, great blue heron, owl, and various passerine birds, green tree frogs, red bellied newts, and a plethora of invertebrates. Some of these use the aged stand of trees in Lot #B as a stopover on their wanderings, as shelter in extremely inclement weather, etc. Others live their entire life in a few hundred square feet of this mature forest fragment, never wandering outside. The ultimate value of this zone is both long term and immediate: in the long term it acts a as a biological cache, a living museum of forest relations which have been all but lost elsewhere due to exploitation. This stand contains the oldest and largest trees for a mile in any direction. It exists on a high bluff from which the Columbia River lowlands, 1200 feet below and 10 miles distant, can be viewed. It is only 30 miles from brackish water, making it ideal marbled murrelet habitat, though none are documented here. However, it is certainly instances like this which, though valued for their future potential as restoration and preservation seed sites, are actually most valuable in the moment. Watching and listening to the Pileated woodpeckers drumbeat their lunch from a snag, or joining in with the howling coyotes are the types of experiences many who have visited Abundance will recall and cherish for years to come. This is why we leave zone 5 almost completely alone.
The exceptions to this hands off management are simple and few- non invasive scientific studies, eradication of vector and disease concerns, ecological education activities, and the construction and presence of tree sits and viewing platforms are the entirety of the recreational and educational activities currently under consideration for this zone. Use of these would be highly restricted, assuring that there will always be a place, even in our own home, where we remember that we are the guests.
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