[MPWG] Wild Farm Alliance Newsletter

Thu Feb 23 11:38:17 CST 2006

This newsletter may have information of interest to our medicinal plant 
producers. 

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Food, Farming and the Wild 
News from the Wild Farm Alliance 
February 2006 
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in this issue
-- Biodiversity Conservation Guides for Organic Farmers and Certifiers
-- Farming with the Wild Forever: Using Agricultural Easements to Support 
Biodiversity
-- WFA Presentations This Winter Throughout the Country
-- Interview, Article, and Paper Posted to WFA Website
-- Case Study of California Farmer Who Catches the Hedgerow Bug
Greetings!
Welcome to the Wild Farm Alliance (WFA) e-Newsletter, a publication 
advancing an agriculture that protects and restores wild Nature.

Biodiversity Conservation Guides for Organic Farmers and Certifiers 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While providing a range of farming practices that maintain and enhance 
biodiversity conservation on the farm and in the larger landscape, these 
downloadable guides offer assistance on how organic farmers and certifiers 
can address requirements in the USDA National Organic Program Rule. 
Although the guides are set up to parallel the recent biodiversity 
additions WFA helped place in the National Organic Standards Board’s 
Organic System Plan Template, they are useful for all farmers who want to 
conserve biodiversity as they integrate nature’s benefits into their 
operations. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/resources/organic_BD.htm

Farming with the Wild Forever: Using Agricultural Easements to Support 
Biodiversity 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The latest in WFA’s series of briefing papers, this downloadable piece 
covers new ground, focusing specifically on ways to support biodiversity 
on farms and ranches, and in the surrounding landscape, by using 
conservation easements designed to promote and sustain active management 
of land for various agricultural purposes compatible with wild nature. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/resources/briefing.htm

WFA Presentations This Winter Throughout the Country 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WFA staff and board members have joined a chef, farmers, researchers and 
others to address farming with the wild, food, organics and biodiversity, 
hedgerow plantings, soil microbiology, and native bee conservation at 
numerous meetings and conferences across the country. We’ve been at the 
Quivira Coalition's Conference in Albuquerque, NM; the Southern 
Sustainable Agriculture Working Group's Conference in Louisville, KY; the 
Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Conference in Kerrville, 
TX; the Ecological Farming Association's Conference in Pacific Grove, CA; 
the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's Conference in 
State College, PA; the Northeast Organic Farming Association-Vermont's 
Conference in Randolph, VT; and the California Certified Organic Farmers 
Conference in Sacramento, CA. 
Upcoming presentations will be made at the Independent Organic Inspectors 
Association's Advanced Training and the Upper Midwest Organic Farming 
Conference both in La Crosse, WI; and the New Mexico Organic Commodity 
Commission Conference in Albuquerque, NM. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/resources/news.htm

Interview, Article, and Paper Posted to WFA Website 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
– Interview with WFA’s Jo Ann Baumgartner and Yale Creek Ranch Manager Tim 
Franklin... – A Food Monolith (USDA Food Pyramid) Gets a Face-Lift. 
Commentary by Dana Jackson.. – Agroecology Versus Ecoagriculture: 
Balancing Food Production and Biodiversity Conservation with Social 
Equity. Commentary by Miguel Altieri. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/resources/articles_inter.htm

Case Study of California Farmer Who Catches the Hedgerow Bug 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My friend Lou Preston has caught the “hedgerow bug.” Lou is a winemaker 
and diversified organic farmer of substantial renown. He lives on a 
125-acre vineyard in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley that he and his wife 
Susan and their daughters have built into something extremely special over 
the past 30 years. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/what/index.htm

What We Do 
Together with farmers, conservationists and communities, we are creating 
more landscapes where farms use sustainable methods to grow healthful food 
and fiber while promoting biodiversity and protecting habitat for a broad 
range of native species. By farming with the wild, agriculture can provide 
wildlife habitat within its borders, and connections to wildlands beyond – 
through the creation of buffers and corridors that are permeable to the 
movements of animals and that help to link people with the land. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/

Take Up the Cause, Make a Donation to WFA 
With your support, we can keep doing what we do best: serving as a voice 
for critical issues intersecting agriculture and conservation. 
Read on... http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/support/index.htm

Wild Farm Alliance 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: info at wildfarmalliance.org 
phone: 831-761-8408 
web: 
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=bf5e9sbab.0.pt5bzobab.54anoobab.647&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wildfarmalliance.org 

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