In My Backyard
How to practice responsible Land Management no matter the characteristics of your property.
By Nick Machinski
How to practice responsible Land Management no matter the characteristics of your property.
By Nick Machinski
Part 5: Setting Goals
People make goals in all aspects of their lives. “I’m going to eat healthier.” “I’m going to exercise more.” “I’m going to make that sales goal.” These goals are typically set in early January or at the beginning of a new quarter (with the former lasting maybe a few weeks).
I’ve set running goals like running a certain number of miles a week or hitting a particular time during a race. I’ve also set unhealthy goals like breaking my record of eating six paczki on Fat Tuesday (I made it to 6.72 thanks to some mini paczki). But the point is we’ve all set goals before. So, how are goals created? How to we decide on what our goals should be? Or which ones take priority over the other? Well, that really depends on what the subject is.
When coming from a land management perspective I keep the following items in mind: history, current conditions, capabilities of the landscape, capabilities of the landowner and finally, what the landowner wants to see/do on the landscape. History is something we just covered last month as we discussed the pre-settlement vegetation maps. This ability of being able to look back and see what your property once was is invaluable because, in some cases, it can be capable of returning to that habitat once again. Historical imagery is also incredibly valuable. You may have discovered this on your own, but in case you haven’t, Map Washtenaw allows you to go back all the way to 1940! Of course, there is a limit as to what can be identified and what years are available, but it will show you how the land has changed in the past 80 years.
Current Site Conditions are based on what is happening on your property today. It is based on your observations of your property, your neighbor’s property, any soil analysis you’ve done, what buildings are present, etc. Based on your observations perhaps you’ve been able to classify the type of habitat(s) you have on your property. Maybe you have fen, a beech-maple forest, or you just know that you have some kind of wetland. That is alright, habitat identification isn’t always straight forward, but the more specific you are the better.
History and Current Site Conditions can be combined to give us an idea of what is capable on the landscape. If the site was a wetland in the past and still shows signs of it being a wetland, there is an opportunity there to restore the habitat to a productive wetland. If there was once a wetland there, but the current site conditions show no sign of water, it may have been drained or filled in and a wetland might not be feasible. It is exciting to return land back to what it was before European arrival, but it isn’t always possible or practical to do so.
Next, let’s look at the capabilities of the landowner. This is important. Too often people set goals too high, they fall well short, get discouraged and give up. This can happen in land management too. I have found that three aspects of a landowner must be looked at when considering goal setting: time, money and physical capability. Landowners must evaluate how much time and money they can or are willing to spend on certain projects as it relates to their land. They also need to evaluate their own physical/technical capabilities if they intend to do certain projects themselves.
This can be compared to a home improvement project in a way. Do you have time to do the project yourself? Can you afford to hire a contractor? Do you have the physical or technical capabilities to carry out the project/goal? Sometimes, people find that a project (such using a controlled burn in a prairie) is more than they can handle, and they hire a professional. Other times, landowners say they will remove invasive species by hand. It all depends on your capabilities as an individual and the amount of investment you are willing to put in.
Lastly, when assisting a landowner, I look at what they want to do on the landscape. And truthfully, this is one of the last considerations and in my opinion has the least weight as far as your goals go. Not to say that this competent isn’t necessary. However, what is important to keep in mind is that goals should be achievable.
Now, this happens rarely (but it does happen), a landowner will propose a goal that drastically changes the landscape so much so, that it would be impractical, or even impossible, for them to carry it out. An example of this may be trying to install a wetland where the ground is all sand. Not only are you fighting the land itself, it is going to be cost prohibitive to even attempt to create a wetland in that area. It is difficult to create something that isn’t present on the landscape or was never there in the first place.
Overall though, people tend to be realistic when they tell me about what they hope to achieve on their property. Rarely do I need to tell a landowner to reconsider their vision for their property or that a particular goal they have is not feasible. But when they offer me their own list of goals, I do pick through it and flesh out their ideas a little bit.
I do ask them how they are going to achieve some of their goals, what their timetable is, and which ones do they see as the most important to them. How important is it that you provide habitat for birds? Is it more important than managing invasive species? You plan on installing a trail? How long will that take? Everyone is going to have a different answer and timeline and that is alright, often times there is no right way to rank your goals unless achieving one depends on achieving another.
And sometimes, you won’t achieve your goals. Oftentimes work, family and life in general, takes precedent; and that is okay. Sometimes projects (whether they be a new planting or burning) don’t quite pan as intended. And that is okay too. It is important to go back, review what was done and perhaps re-evaluate your goals so that next time you can succeed.
So next time, I’m going to share my goals with you and tell you how I came to those decisions. This way, you can maybe take some of my goals or an ideas and apply them to your land.
People make goals in all aspects of their lives. “I’m going to eat healthier.” “I’m going to exercise more.” “I’m going to make that sales goal.” These goals are typically set in early January or at the beginning of a new quarter (with the former lasting maybe a few weeks).
I’ve set running goals like running a certain number of miles a week or hitting a particular time during a race. I’ve also set unhealthy goals like breaking my record of eating six paczki on Fat Tuesday (I made it to 6.72 thanks to some mini paczki). But the point is we’ve all set goals before. So, how are goals created? How to we decide on what our goals should be? Or which ones take priority over the other? Well, that really depends on what the subject is.
When coming from a land management perspective I keep the following items in mind: history, current conditions, capabilities of the landscape, capabilities of the landowner and finally, what the landowner wants to see/do on the landscape. History is something we just covered last month as we discussed the pre-settlement vegetation maps. This ability of being able to look back and see what your property once was is invaluable because, in some cases, it can be capable of returning to that habitat once again. Historical imagery is also incredibly valuable. You may have discovered this on your own, but in case you haven’t, Map Washtenaw allows you to go back all the way to 1940! Of course, there is a limit as to what can be identified and what years are available, but it will show you how the land has changed in the past 80 years.
Current Site Conditions are based on what is happening on your property today. It is based on your observations of your property, your neighbor’s property, any soil analysis you’ve done, what buildings are present, etc. Based on your observations perhaps you’ve been able to classify the type of habitat(s) you have on your property. Maybe you have fen, a beech-maple forest, or you just know that you have some kind of wetland. That is alright, habitat identification isn’t always straight forward, but the more specific you are the better.
History and Current Site Conditions can be combined to give us an idea of what is capable on the landscape. If the site was a wetland in the past and still shows signs of it being a wetland, there is an opportunity there to restore the habitat to a productive wetland. If there was once a wetland there, but the current site conditions show no sign of water, it may have been drained or filled in and a wetland might not be feasible. It is exciting to return land back to what it was before European arrival, but it isn’t always possible or practical to do so.
Next, let’s look at the capabilities of the landowner. This is important. Too often people set goals too high, they fall well short, get discouraged and give up. This can happen in land management too. I have found that three aspects of a landowner must be looked at when considering goal setting: time, money and physical capability. Landowners must evaluate how much time and money they can or are willing to spend on certain projects as it relates to their land. They also need to evaluate their own physical/technical capabilities if they intend to do certain projects themselves.
This can be compared to a home improvement project in a way. Do you have time to do the project yourself? Can you afford to hire a contractor? Do you have the physical or technical capabilities to carry out the project/goal? Sometimes, people find that a project (such using a controlled burn in a prairie) is more than they can handle, and they hire a professional. Other times, landowners say they will remove invasive species by hand. It all depends on your capabilities as an individual and the amount of investment you are willing to put in.
Lastly, when assisting a landowner, I look at what they want to do on the landscape. And truthfully, this is one of the last considerations and in my opinion has the least weight as far as your goals go. Not to say that this competent isn’t necessary. However, what is important to keep in mind is that goals should be achievable.
Now, this happens rarely (but it does happen), a landowner will propose a goal that drastically changes the landscape so much so, that it would be impractical, or even impossible, for them to carry it out. An example of this may be trying to install a wetland where the ground is all sand. Not only are you fighting the land itself, it is going to be cost prohibitive to even attempt to create a wetland in that area. It is difficult to create something that isn’t present on the landscape or was never there in the first place.
Overall though, people tend to be realistic when they tell me about what they hope to achieve on their property. Rarely do I need to tell a landowner to reconsider their vision for their property or that a particular goal they have is not feasible. But when they offer me their own list of goals, I do pick through it and flesh out their ideas a little bit.
I do ask them how they are going to achieve some of their goals, what their timetable is, and which ones do they see as the most important to them. How important is it that you provide habitat for birds? Is it more important than managing invasive species? You plan on installing a trail? How long will that take? Everyone is going to have a different answer and timeline and that is alright, often times there is no right way to rank your goals unless achieving one depends on achieving another.
And sometimes, you won’t achieve your goals. Oftentimes work, family and life in general, takes precedent; and that is okay. Sometimes projects (whether they be a new planting or burning) don’t quite pan as intended. And that is okay too. It is important to go back, review what was done and perhaps re-evaluate your goals so that next time you can succeed.
So next time, I’m going to share my goals with you and tell you how I came to those decisions. This way, you can maybe take some of my goals or an ideas and apply them to your land.
