Why should I get to know my watershed and bioregion when modern transportation has erased all sense of time and distance? Because when you’re gone, along with fossil fuels, your bioregion will be what’s there to take care of your children’s children’s children.

Today, I live in what we call Southwest Oregon, but that is just an arbitrary box. In reality, I live in the interior valleys bioregion west of the Cascade crest and east of the costal range. I also live in the Rogue River watershed. The Rogue river watershed is south of the Umpqua river and north of the Klamath river watershed. A watershed is a discrete geographic area which can vary enormously in size and scale. Watersheds can range across several bioregions. My Rogue river watershed ranges from mid to high alpine, interior valley, and down to maritime coastal bioregions.

While a watershed can easily be defined by which way the water flows, a bioregion is more arbitrary. A bioregion is more or less an area of a like and connected ecosystem. My interior valleys bioregion is characterized by mild winters, it does not snow a lot on the valley floors, and has hot dry Mediterranean weather in the summer. Native people depended on deer, salmon, and acorns for a living before white settlers.

The importance of a watershed vs. bioregion varies around the country. For example, western Oregon is characterized by rugged mountains, making watersheds the easiest for navigation for human organization and commerce. Traversing between valleys within my bioregion involves considerable travel even with today’s modern highways. However, in Minnesota, headwaters of the Mississippi, it is easy to travel in almost any direction. The Mississippi bioregion from Minnesota to Louisiana is enormous. It is more practical to organize human activity in the upper mid west instead of the length of the country. As long as we have fossil fuels, watersheds will be a way to exchange bulk commodities—moving a 100,000 bushels of corn is different than moving 100 beaver pelts.

So, should we organize around easy transportation or common environment. In the end, it varies and both are important. It can take a lifetime to get to know one’s bioregion. See how many native local food sources you can name. If you have kids, look around local U-pick orchard, berries, even pumpkins. If you eat, look into local community supported agriculture (CSA) opportunities. Walking herb tours and classes are another fun ways for families to get outside and have fun together. Break things down to human scale—I live on the Baron creek tributary of the Rogue river watershed.

Learn what edible plants grow in your bioregion—reestablish a relationship with these cultivators. Our accumulated knowledge of our local cultivators has been the key to human survival since the birth of humanity. North american Indians put together more cultivators or foods than the rest of the world combined. When climate change comes we are going to need our relationship with these plants and if we have enough relationships, something will survive. Find some books on edible wild plants for your area—learn it. The big human relationship with plants is in jeopardy—we need more humans who have a relationship with plants.

Another way to learn what grows in your bioregion is to plant a garden. Don’t plant just any garden though—plan a perennial vegetable garden al-la asparagus and rhubarb.  In the long run, perennials are less work and better for the earth because you do not have to till the soil and replant every year. If your ambitions, start your own small diverse food forest blending the vegetables with orchard trees and more. See what grows and what does not. Look into Eric Toesmeier’s Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious and Easy to Grow Edibles. To learn more about edible forest gardens, start with Toby Hemenway’s Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture.

All in all, its your local environment that will be there to take care of your kids when your gone. Find out what resources are there and which are not. Its where you can create a tribal-community identity. Find like minded people to share the joy of your local environment. Take care of it today—teach your kids how to live in harmony with it tomorrow.

In the future we will talk about how to start ending private property by putting your land and those of like minded friends in a land trust for the benefit of your community and children.