Education: Focus on sharing knowledge on conservation and efficiency with citizenry and sharing information between fishermen, farmers, and scientists (both ways) about crops and resources, their peculiarities, their environment and for fishing - survey and fishing methods and strategies.

Background: There are many organized approaches to providing conservation information to farmers and fishermen all around the country. We will review a sampling of these efforts to determine if they treat some of the concerns that are often forgotten. For example, we teach people about ways to react to a warming world, but not how to prepare for a sudden onset of a cooling climate, whether due to an impact of mankind or to items beyond our control, such as massive volcanic eruptions, an asteroid collision, or just normal variation in output of the sun or in changes in the Earth’s orbit. Such events have brought on both moderate and severe cooling in the past, including mass starvation and full glaciation. One strategy might be to advise people to think about which crops would be suitable for their land during a cooling climate. Will the land grow frost or freeze resistant greens such as rye? Do they know where to get seeds if they are needed? Are there adequate supplies of the seeds? What other crops could be made cold tolerant and are they already available? Should there be a national strategy to do such research and develop seed banks in case they are needed?

Photo: Kristin at the Vehrs wheat farm in Ritzeville, Washington. Are farmers ready for climate change? One that can go in either direction?

Thesis: “We should not have all our eggs in one basket”, whether for climate change or other matters. How can we prepare for both the more probable scenarios as well as those that are less likely yet could have devastating consequences?

Approach: Project under development. No details available yet.

Please feel free to contact us with any comments or questions or informationon you could partner with us in our activities.

Everett-Vehrs Conservation and Research Foundation
4007 N. Abingdon Street
Arlington, Virginia USA 22207