Hi folks.
Last week we fell in love with a 37 acre property in Tenino, Thurston Co WA. We put in an offer and it was accepted on Sunday. We walked the property again and found some very, very special spots along the seasonal creek, including beaver dams! I was absolutely enchanted by this riparian zone. We were elated for the first day, then jumped headfirst into our due diligence process. Among other things, the place has turned out to be 20% wetlands. That's great, right? But those wetlands include a buffer, which can be up to 300'. That's a football field, remind you.
The wetlands, delineated and undelineated, and their buffers, leave 12 "usable" acres. They aren't listed as being the super-duper-special class I wetlands, but they are mapped by the county. I was pretty winded by this news at first, and my partner initially wanted to back out all together. I coaxed him back from the ledge, and gave myself a few minutes to shift perspectives. On observing myself, I saw how the findings moved me into a perspective of scarcity, the feeling that 12 acres can't be enough when I "meant to" "have" 37. The sense of limitation rubs my partner the wrong way, and the possibility of oversight gives us both a little bit of the creeps.
But... when I shift into permaculture brain, I think, wow! Look at all that zone 5! I think of the opportunity and honor of stewardship, the diversity, the beauty, the privacy it offers, the foraging potential. Another point worth mentioning is that the land is adjacent to 6,200 acres of state forests - THAT'S A LOT OF ZONE 5
Then the questions start to bubble up. When reading these questions, I want to clarify that in most cases I'm talking about these activities in the BUFFER ZONE, not the actual wetland.
What can stewardship mean when we're talking about a designated/protected "natural resource"? Am I even allowed to plant native plants in a protected wetland? What about pulling blackberry? Harvesting and cultivating mushrooms? Cultivating stands of wild medicines? Or are the allowable activities limited by the belief sadly held by many conservationists: that human impact is negative impact, that we are as a species and by nature, not a part of nature and should stay the hell out of it.
Can we camp on it? Can we let others camp on it?
I found information that says we can garden on it. This one confuses me. What the hell does gardening mean? Does that mean we can dig swales? Keep goats? Graze ducks?
And of course, how are these protected areas and their buffers monitored, in real life? Does the DNR fly planes overhead? Will we have unwanted visitors from agencies checking in? Is it just a handshake agreement to not be a total jerk and burn trash and dump feces in a wetland?
So y'all, if you would be so kind... Thoughts?
Should we move forward? If we do, we are planning to lower our offer.
If we do move forward and don't hit any other major snags (still waiting to get clear info on the Mazama Pocket Gopher), what can be done in the buffer zone? Am I overreacting to the word "protected"?
