What’s in a name?  Mountain Castles Soil and Water Conservation District is named for the county seat of each county it serves — New Castle in Craig Co. and Fincastle in Botetourt — and for the impact and beauty of the surrounding mountains.

For many, local mountains make up an integral part of daily life.  Many of us feel “lost” if we spend any length of time away from the mountains we call home.

The most striking part of the history of the Appalachian Mountains is their age.  Our mountains are ancient.  Their formation occurred in a time of supercontinents and dinosaurs.  The first Native Americans of our region most likely looked out on a mountain landscape that looked strikingly similar to the ridges and peaks we see today.

In his 1949 essay “Thinking Like a Mountain” Aldo Leopold wrote of the wisdom of mountains in “seeing” the “interconnectedness” of the ecosystem as a whole.  He implied that mountains were patient, resilient, and wise.  Although he was writing about the conservation of wolves, Leopold could just as easily been writing about protecting our land and water.

Seventy years later, we can still look to mountains for conservation inspiration.  Across the state, soil and water districts struggle to promote — and fund — “on-the-ground” conservation through livestock exclusion from streams, cover crops, backyard rain gardens and conservation landscaping.  Conservation education for K-12 and beyond is also a critical component of our work.

Sometimes the efforts seem small when compared to the monumental task of cleaning nonpoint source pollution from our state’s waters.  This is when “mountain thinking” is at its most important.  Be patient and resilient.  Make wise decisions.  See how everything is connected and how even “small” changes make a difference over time.

 

 

 

Thinking Like a Mountain