Taking ownership of such pristine, undisturbed land, with minimal invasive weeds and massive appeal to wild animals gave us a chance to try our outmost to preserve this rare state. We wanted to assign ourselves as guardians, walking that delicate edge between all out conservation and the need to actually live here. In the long run our impact will be tremendous, whether we want it to be or not, but so it seems to be with the human race of lately.

The scraggly bitterbrushes together with service berries and bunch grasses are the most prevalent flora of the semiarid brush steppe. These native inhabitants are generally referred to as 'weeds'. The common practice of new landowners is to call in the big machines and grade the whole mess, level it down to bare dirt. Such a crime is probably the result of ignorance, pared with that inherited need for orderliness that fostered atrocities like lawns. Excusable, to some degree, just as we have accepted other outrageous behaviors in our fellow humans, like driving Hummers or taking 2 showers a day. What these folks are doing is destroying a most amazing garden, requiring near zero maintenance, a home to countless critters, birds and larger mammals that has existed for millenia, and, without blinking, replacing it with water hungry subtropical grasses and all the well known implications of that can of worms.

Recently an editorial in our local paper exposed the behavior of a few possibly well meaning but hideously ignorant landowners. See here.

So we looked at this spread of land, and decided to do our best, knowing there would be a steady decline in the quality over the years. After all we should be able to better than the average, mentioned above.

The first action was a 40" fence around the 1/4 acre we needed for building, gardening and general hanging out. This keeps the remaining 14.75 acres free from our dogs, errant kids and wandering adults, which all, willing or not, spread the seeds of noxious weed. The exceptions to this 'out of bounds' attitude are a two track for vehicle access and a hiking trail leading out back to miles and miles of exploriing.

Another big help for the land was the decision to minimize excavators. For all the digging needs, only a spade was offered. What made this low impact approach feasible were the pier post foundation scheme, described here, and avoiding the whole septic tank - leach field mess. As of today, with a cabin, woodshop, pole barn and shed in place, still not one bag of concrete has been poured and only the trusted spade has been doing the digging.

Before signing the real estate contract, the issue of access had to be worked out. No driveway existed. Steep roadcuts, at least 30' tall rimmed the land on two sides. Up on the flat bench simply driving the path of least resistance would produce a reasonable result, but that embankment down by the county road would take more effort. For a while we toyed with the idea of using livestock to haul everything we needed to build. But, if nothing else, the well drillers needed to get their huge rig up here, hopefully just once. The decision to call on outside help was made.

A few depressing visits from various earthmover guys yielded outrageous estimates, some as high as $15000, with talks of carving hundreds of yards of erosion prone roadway. Finally the crusty old local down the road, with his ancient bulldozer, was summoned. After a brief drive-by inspection, squinting into the low winter sun, he declared he could dig thru the embankment at a certain gully-like weakness which only he saw, for $2000, giving us a steep but serviceable path to the bench. This 'economy' version has in fact suited us fine. Our truck, a basic 87 Toyota, effortlessly hauls building materials and firewood up the grade. For the sake of vehicle preservation, we park our commuters at the base and walk the 300 yards up to the cabin. In winter the whole thing is shut down, giving us the enjoyment of a motor free environment for 4 months or more, not to mention the savings of not having to plow after every storm. Visitors park and walk too, once they see the steepness of the hill or the blockade of parked vehicles.

Water is off course the most important develoment to get straightened out while considering a land purchase. We chose to have a well drilled. See here for more.