LavaLakeLamb.com
Archived Ranch News
11/20/2006 - Gary Paul Nabhan's Visit
Kathleen Bean
Gary Paul Nabham's Visit to Lava Lake Ranch
The Lava Lake Foundation for Science and Conservation was proud to bring Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan to the Wood River Valley in early October to share his work in Northern Arizona and elsewhere to create sustainable community food systems and protect working landscapes.
In response to unprecedented growth and speculative purchases of ranches for development in our county, we asked Dr. Nabhan to facilitate a workshop for over 50 interested community members, including conservationists, chefs, farmers and ranchers, land use planners, county officials, real estate professionals, public lands managers, recreationists, and hunger advocates, among others. The workshop participants came together to discuss ways to protect our region's working farms and ranches, encourage ecosystem protection and create a local food system. It was very exciting to hear the innovative ideas that came out of the meeting. The Lava Lake Foundation will facilitate the community's efforts to move forward in pursuing strategies to preserve our region's character and biodiversity while developing and facilitating an increased supply of local and sustainably-raised foods.
In addition to conducting the workshop, Dr. Nabhan gave a public lecture which was co-sponsored by The Nature Conservancy of Idaho (www.nature.org) and the Wood River Land Trust (www.woodriverlandtrust.org). These two events brought Dr. Nabhan's experiences and knowledge to over 100 residents of the community.
Dr. Nabhan is a MacArthur Fellow, cofounder of Native Seeds/SEARCH, and author of numerous books and articles on ethnobotany, nutrition, and plant conservation. For more information on Dr. Nabhan and his work, visit www.garynabhan.com and http://home.nau.edu/environment.
