One of my passions is creating/restoring habitat that is native to the site and region, so that people can experience and learn about the species that will thrive in those habitats. Every project.....I want to bring native butterflies, pollinators, birds, mammals. Including people. Being in nature heals, calms, restores, helps us breathe a little deeper & slower....it really is magical. But we do still live in a society that likes landscapes to bend to tidiness. So crews may trim shrubs into shapes without understanding that plants are chosen to fit those spaces, without the need for shaping.
Plains .....as settlers here in southwest Washington called them, were open White Oak groves with meadow-like grasses and flowers underneath, including yarrow, lupine, camas, etc. They are a lost habitat in our region, except the Camas fields in a few scattered locations. But the Oak Groves and plains are mostly long gone.
I am excited to work with partners to bring these spaces back to life. Bring the life back that thrives under a 200 year oak tree and not need to mow it. If you haven't walked a peaceful plain lately, please visit the Ogden Elementary School in Vancouver. Small, but mighty, and full of life and magic.
