It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but not necessarily since I’ve written. A lot has happened in a short time and as we approach our planting date the need to finish our garden buildout has become my premier motivator. The hurtles keep coming, though, and I wrote a little about one of them last month:
April 10, 2017:
Worrying is praying for what you don’t want.
I think about this each time I think of all the things that could go wrong. We are eight weeks away from planting outdoors and I’ve called off all construction. The department of State Land has notified me that there is a potential wetland on our property. Wetlands are considered state lands and if that is the case then we would need another permit to work on the property.
It’s been a week and I’m waiting for the department to confirm or deny their notification. Best case scenario: they find no evidence of a wetland using arial surveys and national map inventories.
Worst case: They cannot determine whether there is a wetland using their research techniques and I will need to hire a private consultant. This consultant will then need to do extensive surveying and ground work, write a report, submit it to Department of State Lands for approval. DSL either approves or denies. Upon approval, we use the wetland delineation to then guide our site development and apply for necessary permits. If the report is denied, we start from square one. The estimated time to go through this process is 120 days. That puts me out six months, well beyond the growing season.
So, what to do? Worry?
Well, yes, but only a little. In the meantime I’ve become an amateur wetland specialist. I’ve identified all the plants on the property and checked them against wetland plant websites. I’ve dug and identified our soil type. I’ve found the National Wetland Inventory maps, USGS maps, and there are no signs of a wetland where we propose to develop. But that doesn’t mean anything; not all the wetlands in the country are mapped. It served to distract me for a couple days from the worst possible thoughts. Positively, I now know more than I ever thought I would about this property, the wealth of vegetation that survives along the Rogue River, and which state departments to check with before I develop any properties in the future.