This class is going to be a real jumping off point if you will. A starting point to ground myself in some of the philosophical underpinnings of environmental policy. As I read through the chapters today I can not help but think about how complex the laws are. People hire me to interpret the laws and to make sense of them in relation to there project. What is applicable here in Watauga County may not be applicable in Ashe County. In this first rambling I am concerned with the way environmental policy is interpreted and adopted across political jurisdictions. For example, In NC I can get a sediment and erosion control permit in Watauga County fairly simply, but in the Town of Boone it is much more difficult. The ordinances are almost identical, but it seems as if they are administered differently. If I go to Ashe County to get a permit for erosion control then I must submit my plans to the state office in Winston Salem. This type of variation breeds widespread confusion and just a general distaste in regulation from developers and land owners. I know this is not a new thought or idea, but more uniformity would aid in the public perception of regulations.
I make a living and a good living at that, managing and help human’s interact with the natural landscape. This interaction is why I love the multi-disciplinary nature of planning and geography! When asked what a geographer or a planner studies, I answer we study how man interacts with the land. I began my career working with farmers on conservation practices. Farmers so often get a bad rap, sometimes justifiably so, but more often than not farmers just need to know what they should do. When I think of man and land interaction I think of farmers first. Farmers are the ones to understand the topsoil and fertility, understand the importance of clean water for livestock. For the most part I believe that a disconnect to food and fiber production has caused a divide in American society away from the land. Without the daily interaction with land that farmers of both small scale and large scale have it is easy to have a lack of understanding about mans interaction with the human landscape.