Newsletter

Autumn 2003

Restoring Smith Prairie: Stewardship in Practice
By Steve Byler

"To bring healing to the biosphere and the whole of Creation" …what a wonderful mission statement! This is what you read when you first open up an Au Sable Institute Official Bulletin. As you read further into the bulletin, key concepts of the mission sort out: stewardship, education, ecology, and community.

I can't help thinking how well the prairie restoration program of Au Sable - Pacific Rim fits into the overall mission of Au Sable. The program wraps all of these concepts together and then takes a bold step forward, by practicing them in a very real way.

The prairie restoration program develops a community of people, the land, creatures, and in particular, a neighborhood of plants. A community suggests that each entity is intertwined and dependent on the others. On the Smith Prairie, through the process of restoration, people deepen their sense of connection with the land, creatures, and plants - that is, the Creation.

Prairie restoration is a "hands-dirty" operation involving sinking fingers into the soil to plant a seed or a plant, or to yank out an invasive plant. Physical contact with the land in knowledge of restoration strongly connects us … with a clear blue sky overhead, red-tail hawks soaring, coyotes shifting, the flash of a goldfinch, the rustle in the grass of a Townsend's vole, and in our hands a golden paintbrush plant.

The plants take center stage in our restoration program. We planted over 9000 plants this last fall and winter: Garry oaks, Roemer's fescue, prairie goldenrod, showy fleabane, Oregon sunshine, and golden paintbrush. (Golden paintbrush is a federally listed plant, occurring in only a few remaining locations: here, it is becoming a part of a new neighborhood!)

The prairie restoration workdays have been a place for mingling of many different of people. Strongly environmental types mix with curious Christian folk. Au Sable, as a Christian and environmental organization, attracts both to its gatherings. Seekers, professionals, college students, retirees, city folk, gardeners, naturalists, individuals from the many environmental groups on Whidbey Island come from their different backgrounds to be re-connected with the earth. Churches, schools, Scouts, businesses, and environmental groups have their own workdays. Christian people who have discovered a desire to be Creation stewards find a special home at Au Sable. Students in Au Sable's academic program have an opportunity to interact with this mix of community people during summer work events.

Education on the prairie is sometimes formal. When a group of Scouts participates in a restoration workday, they learn concepts like "native" [plants and people], "restore" [natural communities], and "prairie." Other times the education is less formal, as when an Au Sable staff person and volunteer work shoulder-to-shoulder, contemplating the natural history of the prairie. Each volunteer takes away a renewed understanding of the geography, history, and ecology of the Smith Prairie.

In the Au Sable prairie restoration program, stewardship is practiced. An understanding of ecology is put to work to bring healing to a part of Creation. At the same time, our stewardship renews our spirits by connecting us to Creation. Stewardship teaches us, touches us, and draws us into community with Creation.