Coastal and Marine Restoration Experts

Puget Sound beach, Washington

One of the ecosystems where we are beginning to see the immediate effects of global change right now are aquatic environments.  News headlines show entire countries being lost to sea level rise and erosion.  FEMA is now redistricting flood areas to avoid coverage in flood and storm surge hazard areas.  This has made some waterfront properties, coastal and riverine, with declining values that are further difficult to sell. 

Here at BTND we know what to do to enhance properties that face immediate threats of global change.  See, some of the negative effects of sea level rise can be mitigated through restorative and adaptive landscape design.  Mitigation aimed at restoring and protecting natural and human systems enhances the natural and aesthetic capital of properties.  Restorative design may take place at large regional scales, and also smaller landowner levels - all with the same result - stabilizing ecosystem processes and protecting properties.  Here at BTND we are highly trained in the restoration of coastal cliffs, wetland, beaches, seagrass and seaweed ecosystems.

If you are worried about how sea level rise or coastal flooding may impact your property or management area, BTND is able to help.  Please contact us for a consultation to discuss your needs and options.   We have ideas and methods that may help you protect your assets and contribute to long-term sustainability. 

This New Year Marks 10 Years of BTND in WA State!

We are celebrating with a new logo to honor our growing team - expanding the circles... Hope you like it!

Why do I always recommend a Certified Arborist?

My coworker cuts down a tree and the tree is not very happy about it. IG: kurtstepp Twitter: kurtstepp © kurtstepp. All rights reserved. For licensing inquiries email licensing@break.com

Even simple branch trimming can be dangerous.  This guy is lucky to be alive.

Note: May be inappropriate for minors due to language and subject matter.  

The United States Releases a Climate Assessment

Going green while we still can!  A shopping mall in Sydney Australia, 2014

After a month of filtering through climates science and assessments, I have found that the US has put out its own draft assessment (http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/).  While some people are still debating whether climate change is real or not, if the scientists are biased or not, the US government has decided it is time to not only admit the climate science is good and compelling - but they concede in the first lines of the executive summary that climate change is driven by human activities.  It is easy to read and sets out some important results that reveal the critical nature of the climate problem in terms we can all understand.

I have not read the entire report yet, but do plan to make my way through it.  There is no topic more important to me that understanding climate science so that we can make educated decisions about how to adapt to the changes were are seeing right outside of our windows each day.  We are witnessing heavier downpours, extended periods of unusually dry weather, and higher intensity storms. 

In my own work I am witnessing thousands of year old trees suddenly dying from drought stress and species long known to inhabit our region (like Western Red Cedar) dying out and stressed throughout the entire Pacific Northwest region.  We have more data on climate change than we did on weapons of mass destruction, and this threat is far more ominous.  Why do we still have climate deniers?  

There is clearly a lot of work to do to look at the climate projections and understand our vulnerabilities regionally.  The thing many people are not understanding is that the world will continue to exist through climate change, it is our vulnerable human condition that becomes threatened… maybe not to extinction, but certainly to regional extirpations.  Will there come a time when we have to list ourselves as endangered?  

While it may be conceptually difficult to comprehend our own suicide, it is an order of magnitude more difficult for me to comprehend how armed with facts at the global, national and regional level, we still are not taking action to understand and mitigate the changes. 

Join me as I give in and take on the information available.  To those who think the problem is too big, or the costs to great, just imagine what they will be in 5 or 10 years?  It's like waiting to buy bottled water at the amusement park when you could have brought a glass from home - the costs, the thirst, the effort is 1000X greater than when we have a little foresight and prepare.

On Surviving the wettest March on Record

Contemplating ecology, San Juan Island, 2010

It's hard to think about the landslide tragedy that happened in neighboring Oso this month and not consider the mounting evidence of a changing climate.  A recent report by the USGS found that rains 150-200% greater than normal this month likely contributed to activation of the massive landslide that has so far claimed the lives of 33 people and devastated an entire community.  In the face of such massive tragedy it's hard not to wonder if these type of climate and natural resource driven calmities will continue in the future and what risks we face as a society moving forward in an age of change.  It is interesting to note that earlier this year, as the ski season got underway, concerns were that there would not be enough precipitation in the form of snowpack in the northwest this year to open a popular ski area and ward off a drought in the western cascade mountains, where Oso is situated. Now, record precipitation later in the season has triggered a landslide being compared to the one triggered by the earthquake and eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.  What is going on over here?

It seems clear to me that it is time to start digging deeper into the climate science and stop discussing climate change as a religious or political event.  It also seems clear to me that efforts to thwart support of climate science is an effort on the part of corporations to continue earning big profits without consideration of the social and environmental context in which they thrive.  Still, although I see it this way, I want to put away conspiracy theories, political motivations, profits and spirituality and focus on what we know - what has been discovered?  What is the science and why the heck are people so afraid of science in America?

NOAA has been studying global climate for how many years now?  In 2009 they report on their findings of a changing climate: 

• Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human induced.
• Climate changes are underway in the United States and are projected to grow.
• Widespread climate-related impacts are occurring now and are expected to increase.
• Climate change will stress water resources.
• Crop and livestock production will be increasingly challenged.
• Coastal areas are at increasing risk from sea level rise and storm surge.
• Risks to human health will increase.
• Climate change will interact with many social and environmental stresses.
• Thresholds will be crossed, leading to large changes in climate and ecosystems.
• Future climate change and its impacts depend on choices made today.

In summary, they state, "Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases."

Guess what they found?  Precipitation averages (daily) across the US are likely to crest an increase by 30% by 2070-2100!  Increased rain is in our future - to me that is a clear indication that they would not be surprised by the record rainfalls and landslide events in Washington this year.  

In the Pacific Northwest we are lucky to have gifted and dedicated scientists working on the problem of focussing the larger picture of global climate down on the Pacific Northwest.  The Climate Impacts Group from the University of Washington has recently released a summary of expected climate impacts and adaptations in our region.  I will read through the document this week and begin blogging about my findings in short essays this week.

More recently, the social debate on climate seems to circle back to a few key topics: 1) Is the climate really changing substantially? 2) Is it god-driven, manmade or natural? 3) Can we do anything about it? and 4) Should we do anything about it?  I get a few of emails tweets on both sides of this debate each week.  While the evidence that the climate is changing seems fairly irrefutable to me, I still hear from many people that whether the climate is changing is something they 'believe' in or not.  Is this hand over the ears response unique to the United States or is denial happening on a global scale?

I will share some of the comments I have received about climate change and expand more on my thoughts and findings next week.  

For now, I beg of anyone joining a debate on the scientific integrity of the climate change theory to focus on actually trying to understand the complex scientific principles as necessary so that we can begin to have an educated discussion on the flaws of our methods and not whether we 'believe' or want to believe in the results and what to do or not do about it.  

I am going back to the beginning my my research and hope to share with you what I find - like a good scientist - whether I like the results or not.  I think we owe it to both the victims and the survivors of the Oso landslide.

Stay tuned!

Occurrence of Labyrinthula spp. in seagrass of New South Wales, Australia

Black lesions in Posidonia australis, Photo by Stacey Travathan-Tackett

I am wrapping up a rough draft of a paper detailing the research work completed in Sydney last month.  It is fun to be writing at the publication level again, though I do so enjoy this blog!  If you want to be reminded of the prior seagrass research blog I kept - read on here: http://ecologicalrestorationpnw.blogspot.com/

At this point, I am just pulling together data and seeing what it all means.  I hope to be able to post more detailed results from the tests soon.

Labyrinthula (Laby) Lab

My new lab space at the University of Sydney, Department of Biology

A very exciting day in the progress of our study here in Sydney.  We have the culture lab set up in the Department of Biology!  Linda was very helpful in showing me the lab space, lending me a key to access the lab, locating necessary materials and teaching me about the facilities and protocols, and demonstrating the safe use of the gas-powered Bunsen burner (I've always used EtOH in a glass jar like a kerosene lamp!).  The lab space is quiet and well equipped for microbiology studies and I am looking very much forward to diving into this work.  Osu will be setting up the agar petri dishes and I will be able to focus on simply collecting and culturing the Laby.    Hopefully Nathalie will be able to isolate some DNA for me so I can send it to my friend Dan in Alabama who is trying to work out the phylogeny of this elusive microbe.

Another really cool thing about the lab, just outside my window is a lovely Banyan tree! 

My spirit tree in Australia, a lovely Banyan

We will be quite pressed for time on this project, given all I want to accomplish, but I am keen on getting enough samples to make some analyses, so I plan to charge ahead, even if it means getting little sleep.  We have this small window to make some important discoveries and I am determined to do it all!

We will see how I feel next week I guess.  If we come across any seaweed while we are sampling, it may be interesting to try and culture from it, as there have been cases where it has been cultured, although I haven't had any success.

Well, that is about it for today.  It is very muggy and after a bid lunch, I just want a rest...  before we really ramp it up next week :)

A bush walk

I had a lovely hike in the bush with my friend Janet today.

Janet at the aboriginal engraving site, February 10, 2014

 We saw many new plants and animals. 

A pathway through...

Eucalyptus and Angophora trees are gorgeous trees with soft bark reminding me of the Pacific Northwest native madrone.  They grow tall and spreading in the crown like a black cottonwood.

Angophora tree

Lot's of lovely new flowering shrubs I had never seen.  This next one looks to me a bit like Scotch broom.

Some kind ofdainty fern growing on the ledge next to the trail where it gets moist in the rains.

Cool tree.  Conifer?

And another...

Looks like it's adapted for butterflies.  We have seen many butterflies, but no hummingbirds.  Are they here?

Cool black lizard, about 2 feet long.

Well, that was about it for the naturalist this evening.  There were some very cool rock formations too.

The colors are not justified here.  They were vibrant, rusty reds, oranges and browns.

This was a cave - respite in the bush...

Luckily we didn't see any snakes.  We did however find there are a plethora of the tiniest ticks you ever saw (though I haven't seen many).  We needed a small hand lens to see them and verify they weren't just small scratches.  So Janet is soaking her hands in baking soda...  I am typing away about our lovely adventure!

Today I also met with  talented group of researchers at University of Technology Sydney.  Stacey, Natalie, Tony and Peter.  They were enormously helpful, providing insight into the seagrass species and locations as I had hoped.  It was great to meet Tony and Peter who are preeminent experts in seagrass research and whose papers I have greatly enjoyed reading.  I should have taken a picture...  Nice folks.

Wide Variety of Australian Seagrass

Australia is a unique country and continent in that it hosts a wide range of seagrass species.  There are about 30 different species from 12 genera known to grown in Australia.  In the Sydney area alone there are 6 common species. 

When compared with the 2 species we find in Seattle (1 non-native) the breadth of diversity in the area becomes clearer.  I have a great map I will have to scan and post later. 

Coastal Australia is suffering from a variety of stressors.  See the map below to get a feel for the shape of the coast I will be sampling in and the variety of issues the seagrass may be dealing with.

For my study of Labyrinthula distribution in Sydney, I plan to collect a minimum of 10 samples all 6 expected species over a minimum of 10, hopefully more, sites. At present, I have not selected the ten sites, but I can tell you about the 6 different species. 

Halophila australis

Halophila decipiens

Heterozostera tasmanica

Posidonia australis

Zostera capricorni

Zostera mulleri

Tomorrow I will meet with a seagrass guru and hopefully he will be able to lead me in the right direction for how to identify sample the seagrasses and what sites may yield fruitful returns (hopefully with no scuba or threat sharks!) 

A new perspective

The edge of the bush, Sydney Australia

Reaching a new country and a new continent is bound to offer a new perspective on many things.  For me, differences in the native ecology are simply mind boggling.  Here in Sydney, cockatoos are a common wild bird.  I have seen three at a time shrieking at each other and vying for space near a cavity in a large eucalyptus tree by the house this morning.  The cockatoos are very loud and wake at the crack of dawn to begin their calling.  Now it is lunch and they seem to have taken a reprieve.  Out the window is the 'bush', however to my knowledge, it is a large expanse of eucalyptus forest, dotted with cockatoos.  I guess it is not uncommon to see wallaby's in the yard, but so far  I haven't caught one hopping by. Private gardens in town are lush with tropical flowers, ferns and palm trees reminding me much of my short time in Kauai two years ago. 

As far as work, we will begin our study of Labyrinthula in the seagrass beds nearby.    Tomorrow I will get a chance to see the University of Sydney and meet other researchers who work with Dr. Frank Gleason.   Today I will spend some time looking into the seagrass species we are likely to encounter in the nearshore.  Tomorrow Frank and I will meet with Dr. Lilje and discuss setting up a culture lab and explore the potential to complete some pathogenicity testing.   It is very exciting to be apart of Labyrinthula research again.  The research of Labyrinthula in Australia has been very limited and I am grateful to expand the work here.  Given the acceleration of climate change impacts nearer to the poles, this work may prove to be very important in seagrass monitoring.

That is all I have for now.  Mostly I have been just relaxing and getting adjusted to the time change.  I expect I will write much more beginning next week.

A New Year's Promise

Umtanum Creek, Yakima Canyon December 2013

"Each new year is a surprise to us. We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence. How happens it that the associations it awakens are always pleasing, never saddening; reminiscences of our sanest hours? The voice of nature is always encouraging." - H. D. Thoreau

We live in a time of change.  Clear signs of a changing climate are sensed, even by the senseless.  It is an easy time to feel trapped in hopelessness, yet -  We who have survived the darkest days can smile, though the bitter cold of winter is upon us, because signs that the light is returning abound! The plants respond by swelling their buds in anticipation of spring - and we who witness these things, can be drawn forward in hope of this eternal promise of the  sun's return.   It seems simple and yet profound.  It is nature and yet it enlivens the spirit. Each year I am indulging in the forest and her kind this time of year.  Even with wars being waged, polar ice caps melting and species going extinct, glorious and wondrous events are taking place that show me where to focus my attention for the best that nature has to offer - A promise that the only thing constant is change.

'GreenFire': A Documentary about Aldo Leopold

"Inspiring. Makes we want to go buy a piece of property and restore it", says Wildlife Biologist Steven Krueger. 

Aldo Leopold would be over 100 years old today and yet his writings continue to guide and inspire the modern ecological movement. In fact, he created a theoretical framework for the fields of conservation biology and restoration ecology which is still taught in universities because his perspective remains relevant to the environmental movement to this day.  

The Aldo Leopold Foundation and the USFS have teamed up to provide a biographical documentary on the life and philosophy of the father of the modern restoration movement.

Photo by Reggie Krueger, 2013

Consulting Arborist - Seattle, WA

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Ways to Avoid Killing Your Tree

Got a tree in your yard? Thinking about planting one? Here are some ways to avoid killing your tree(s):

Don’t forget to water. It is easy to overlook your trees and skip watering them. While you’re watering your plants, shoot some water your tree’s way or consider installing a TreegatorÒ for the first year or two following planting. After 5 years the tree should not require much additional irrigation.  Also be sure sprinklers are not spraying directly onto the trunk as this creates health problems for the tree.

Don’t cover up or compact the soil in the root zone. Roots do not survive in compacted soil; therefore your tree will not survive. Avoid storing heavy things under your tree and avoid stepping on the soil in the root zone too often.

Along those same lines, don’t excavate within the dripline of trees.  Trees roots extend far beyond the trunk and even beyond the dripline.  Installing fences, patios and pathways directly next to a tree requires the removal of many critical roots and can kill a tree rapidly.  If your project requires excavating next to a tree, hire a consulting arborist to assess potential damages and offer tips for increasing the chances of survival.

Don’t leave on tip stake ties too long. Remove ties as soon as the tree can stand on its own, or better yet don’t install them at all.

Do not plant a big tree in a small space. Figure out how big your tree will grow to be before choosing a spot to plant it. For example, never plant tall trees under wires or roofed areas.

Do not top your tree.  Just don’t do it.  It’s ugly and it creates hazards in the future that may affect valuable targets or tree workers.

Mow around the tree, not through it. Avoid hitting the tree with machinery. The most alive and vulnerable part of the tree is just under the bark. Weed eaters/whips are a common source of physical damage to tree trunks.  Adding a mulch ring around the tree can help keep grass and trees away from the trunk so that machinery is unnecessary.

Hire a Certified Arborist to care for your trees.  Certified Arborists are up to date on the science of trees and tree care practices, which are changing rapidly.  Follow these links to find a Certified Arborist (http://pnwisa.org/ or http://www.isa-arbor.com/faca/findArborist.aspx)or Registered Consulting Arborist (http://www.asca-consultants.org/find/).

Follow these guidelines and you will be successful in not killing your tree!

Written by Isabella Kharrazi and Brooke Sullivan

Turnball, Cass. "6 Ways to Kill Your Tree." PlantAmnesty - Stop Topping Trees! - 6 Ways to Kill Your Tree. Plant Amnesty, n.d. Web. 07 Aug. 2013.

English Ivy: An Invasive Species in Seattle's Forests

Ivy invaded forest in Bellevue, Washington

English ivy has become a major invasive species in the Pacific Northwest, from British Columbia to California. English ivy is not native to the United States and has no natural predators or pests to keep it in check. It easily escapes from planting areas and invades natural areas, parks and urban forests. English ivy suppresses and excludes other vegetation to form a dense monoculture groundcover, unsuitable as wildlife habitat. As a vine, it can completely engulf shrubs and encircles tree trunks of all sizes, leaving nothing uncovered. Shrubs shrouded in ivy may eventually die because light can't reach their leaves. The sheer weight of the extra vegetation also weakens the plant it grows on, making it more susceptible to disease and blowdown. It grows rapidly and needs very little light or water once it's established. It spreads rapidly as a groundcover and also climbs as a vine. Seattle’s trees are aging and overwhelmed with English ivy. English ivy is an additional threat as it climbs up into the canopy causing trees to fall in high winds. Over the years, English ivy began to establish under the canopy of Seattle’s forest. In many parks the invasive plant now dominates and covers the ground, blocking the potential for all native trees to naturally regenerate. Since then, the leafy trees have grown large and old and are nearing the end of their natural life. The ivy is an invasive plant and over time will kill these trees by robbing them of nutrients.

What can you do?

Do not plant ivy. Remove ivy, especially from vertical surfaces where it seeds and is spread further by birds. Remove ivy from your yard. Join community out-reach and volunteer-based removal work parties. Visit http://www.ivyout.org/ for more information on how you can help in the fight against English ivy.

http://greenseattle.org/about/the-problem

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/node/948

http://www.ivyout.org/

                                                                                     Written by Isabella Kharrazi

Mushrooms and frass - signs of a distressed tree

One of my favorite type of arborist projects are investigations into apparent tree disease and infestations.  Tree diseases and infestations occur when fungi, insects and bacteria are able to penetrate defense mechanisms in the branches, trunk or roots and cause damage to a tree.  Signs of infection by fungi are loose bark or soft wood, presence of mushrooms or conks, dead tree leader and stem breakage at the roots.  Signs of infestation by wood boring insects include small random holes in exterior bark or exposed inner wood, egg galleries, frass and apparently non-point source sap flow.

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Pileated woodpecker attacking ants in Douglas fir

Defense mechanisms in trees have been fairly well studied by arborists.  We understand that different from animals, tree never ‘heal’ over.  They secrete chemicals that block expansion of decay and produce new wood in areas that are weakened to strengthen trunks, roots and branches as needed.

Dr. Alex Shigo was a successful pioneer in developing and proving a theory of how trees decay and what a tree does to fight off infection.  He called this process CODIT (Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees).  What he found was that trees are able to resist decay by developing ‘walls’ around areas of infection.  Some tree species are better or worse at developing these walls.  Shigo found four types of walls that trees create to defend themselves against advancing decay.

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Brown spongy root rot being walled off in costal redwood

Wall 1. The first wall is formed when the tree begins plugging up normally porous vascular tissue above and below the wound. This tissue runs vertically up and down the length of the stem, so plugging it slows the vertical spread of decay. Tissues are plugged in various ways, such as with tylosis. This wall is the weakest.

Wall 2. The second wall is formed by the cells of the growth ring interior to the wound, thus slowing the inward spread of decay. This wall is the second weakest, and is continuous except where intersected by ray cells (see next section).

Wall 3. The third wall is formed by ray cells, which are groups of cells oriented perpendicularly to the stem axis, dividing the stem into sections not entirely unlike the slices of a pie. These groups of cells are not continuous and vary in length, height and thickness, forming a maze-like barrier to lateral growth of decay. After wounding, some ray cells are also altered chemically, becoming poisonous to some microorganisms. This is the strongest wall at the time of wounding, prior to the growth of the fourth wall.

Wall 4. The fourth wall is created by new growth on the exterior of the tree, isolating tissue present at the time of infection from that which will grow after. This is the strongest wall, and often the only one, which will completely halt the spread of infection. When only the fourth wall remains intact, the result is something most people have seen walking through the woods or in a park: a living tree with a completely rotted-out interior. In such cases, all the tissue present at the time of injury has become infected, but new healthy tissue has been allowed to continue to grow outside of the fourth wall.

His work is accessible online: (http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/misc/treedecay/cover.htm)

To ward off infestations from insects, trees secrete can sap, which blocks and pushes out invading insects that have made their way past the outer bark of a tree.  Trees that are healthy and have adequate access to water are better prepared to initialize sap flow when insects begin penetrating the bark.  Common insect pathogens are bark beetles, ants and termites.

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Sap, frass and beetle entry holes in Douglas fir

Bark beetle entry holes and galleries

Climate change and globalization are recognized players in the increased spread and occurrence of pathogens in our native forests.  Here in the Pacific Northwest that means potential loss of revenue from forestry, increased occurrence and intensity of wildfires, and changes to our favorite recreation areas.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide range of pathogens that affect our native trees.  We have many native fungi and insects that thrive on decaying wood.  We also have a range of pathogens that infect healthy wood.  If you notice signs of distress in your tree, including any of the aforementioned symptoms of infection and infestation, contact BTND to assess the damages and provide an assessment of tree risk as needed.

Women in the Dirt

​This week I was invited to Pheobe Fine's home (Fine Design in Seattle) in Ballard to watch the 2011 documentary produced by the American Society of Landscape Architects, "Women in the Dirt".   Women in the dirt explores the work and emerging green design ethics of seven successful female landscape architects working in California. The documentary succeeds as an exploration in defining sustainable design and enduring landscapes within the profession. While I am a known cynic when it comes to 'green design' and our ability and attempts at really getting Back To Nature, I am encouraged by the messages the film sends to landscape architects about the boundaries we can push as professionals and as women in our work with landscapes.  Still, I think we have the tools to do even greater works that reach even greater numbers of people.  I am calling for a revolution in landscape design!

 Yes, just as Garret Eckbo and Dan Kiley started a revolutionary movement in architecture in the 1950's, I want a deep green, deep blue movement to change the face of landscape design forever.  After seeing this film, I am convinced a revolution is brewing, however I don't think we are truly getting Back To Nature yet. If these largely Havard educated women could also be dramatically changing the face of landscape architecture in southern California…  so could we all - everywhere in the world.

I was most touched by the eager conversations and sharing by landscape architects and designers that occurred after the film.  For instance, we were all unclear why the film focused on Harvard graduated, southern california designers?  I know many designers from the pacific northwest who are really pushing the line between art and science in a meaningful way to create truly restorative designs that are ecologically functional and enduring at regional and local scales.  We also shared how we incorporate sustainable design into our work - or not - and why this may be.

What I found missing from the film (and what I find missing from landscape architecture in general),​ is a sense of the humility and cooperation it takes to pursue green ideals.  I mean where is the voice of science and specifically professional restoration ecologists?  Not one of these landscape architects discussed working with other professionals to develop their projects, except one, who was working with an architect.  At every design review and design presentation given by landscape architects, it always seems to be the same bourgeois, superfluous language of the 'me' as designer.  I want to hear the 'us' designers.  I want to know about the team.  As a global society we are working to remain sustainable as a species - one designer or one design is not going to make it or break it.  This is not a one-person job!  We are a collective movement. As landscape designers we can play a critical role in the visioning and restoration of the global landscape and garden by garden in the urbanscape - together.

I find that landscape design is ultimately a process of connecting with the past, present and future of a site. Sometimes this means designing for people and sometimes it does not. In a deep green design, the final plan has very little to do with the designer at all and the designer really becomes a facilitator.   I have always maintained that landscape architecture should remain art + science.  A good design for me is a harmony between the two.  A good design in my eyes, is a plan that balances between planning, environment and society.   I find that the profession these days, while yelling loudly about green accomplishments, on the whole does not stand the tests of rigor or of sustainability and the concepts of enduring design. 

I am a designer with great vision.  I can really get into a site and read what it needs.  I know what the land wants to do.  I have worked hard to train myself to listen in this special way. Once you see the world as I do, the trick becomes successfully bringing the client into the site design process, ​so that a truly holistic plan can be designed, built and maintained over time for the benefit of all beings.  

I expect a lot from landscape architects. We have the opportunity to revolutionize the way we treat the land and in so doing, how we treat each other. I believe we have a duty to do what is right.

“Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”  - Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic

Society is beginning to embrace the truth about climate change and I believe the need for enduring, restorative design is not simply the wish or dream of a young visionary any longer - it is an essential reality, and not just here in my little neck of the woods Seattle, but everywhere.

Let the revolution begin!