“Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” -Theodore Roethke

This quote encapsulates the feeling of finally gaining ownership of Willow Creek Conservancy. The struggle has always been along the lines of: “We need to get this piece of equipment delivered here, but the roads aren’t passable.” Or, “We want to host a public event but there isn’t anywhere for 50 people to park.” Or, “We need a decent workspace but all of our structures are cluttered with junk and neglected.” Metaphorically, we have been standing in the valley, not seeing the path over the mountain of work (Not to mention the 20 other projects the RCD is involved with).

Enter Blaze Elation (of Elationscapes Ecological Landscaping & Permaculture Design) and James R. Henry Construction Professional. Everything changed.

The first week of June 2024 marked the beginning of a two week road maintenance and junk removal project at Willow Creek Conservancy. The Willow Creek Conservancy crew teamed up with James and Blaze to repair roughly 1.5 miles of farm roads throughout the property. The process involved scraping the roads to fill any ruts and remove unwanted vegetation obstructing the roads. The crews also widened the roads to a generous 12ft+ to accommodate larger trucks or emergency vehicles. Additional goals for the two weeks of work included clearing a weed-patch to create space for a parking lot, accessibility improvements and junk removal in and around the two existing structures on site, and a new layer of decomposed granite in the pole barn.

As per our conservation easement contract, approximately 10% of the land area at WCC is allowed to be farmed and the remaining acreage must be kept as a nature preserve in perpetuity. The vision for the 10% arable land we have includes a native plant nursery, a regenerative agriculture demonstration farm, a seed bank, and other educational/cultural resources. It is our hope to invite the community to this land for gatherings and workshops and provide people an opportunity to shape their relationship with the land. This maintenance project was just the first step of many it will take to get the Conservancy in a presentable shape for the community.

Some things we are aiming to accomplish in the near future include incorporating high density mob grazing of sheep and goats in especially-weedy lowland areas to clear the land, reduce the addition of non-native seed to areas we aim to plant, add fertility to the soil from the herd’s droppings, and show that there are climate-friendly alternatives to mowing and tilling for site prep. Stay tuned for our next project update!