Holistic Land Planning Helps Design Drought Mitigation Strategies
What’s land planning got to do with drought? Plenty. Land planning is the land use plan for your operation. How you use and position water, roads, pens, fences, structures, etc. can mean the difference between an effective water cycle and workflow and wasted efforts/resources.
The third and final Mitigating Drought with Holistic Management 2-day workshop in HMI's Whole Farm/Ranch Land Management program was held May 29 & 30, 2015 at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area in Hunt, Texas. Holistic Management Certified Educator Peggy Sechrist and consultant/rancher/author Walt Davis presented Holistic Land Planning to 19 eager students. Katherine Napper Ottmers, a permaculture instructor and Holistic Management Certified Educator trainee joined them for a guest presentation on the blending on these sister concepts.
When class members were asked what they expected from the class, they responded:
“Efficient use of resources”
“Sequence, priorities and schedule for my infrastructure build-out”
“Work Flow”
“Reduce erosion”
“Security and emergency management, an escape hatch”
These and many other topics were covered during this workshop.
Peggy Sechrist began with an overview of Holistic Land Planning with emphasis on the relationships within the whole of the land/animals, finances and people under management. She laid out the steps: gather the information, creative planning with others, selecting the best plan, implementing your vision and finally monitoring and revising as needed.
Each of the participants brought a map of their land. After looking as a group at the types of issues that might be considered as we plan, the group broke into sets of 3 or 4 to create lists of issues in the categories of natural, social and management (including financial). There were other experiential sessions throughout the workshop.
Katherine Napper Ottmers presented a hummingbird flyover urging the students to look at their map as though they were a bird flying over looking for shelter, open water, wind/sun/shade/runoff/fire -flow patterns, etc. She presented an exercise of analyzing elements in the plan by listing behaviors and characteristics, inputs and outputs. Finally she explained planning land use with zones of frequent use near the house and the all important use of contours in managing how the water lingers or flows.
Walt Davis began with various considerations in planning paddock locations to best manage land health and animal performance. Tricks of the trade about drought, flood, fire, water, weaning, multi-species management, chutes and pens, portable feeders, water and minerals were handed out like candy to a most satisfied group.
Thanks to the Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation for their generous support of this program.