Brownfield Cultivation: Converting a Brownfield Site into an Eco-Village

Abstract

Brownfield Cultivation: Converting a Brownfield Site into an Eco- village Scott R. Moses University of Idaho Introduction Along oneUniversity of Idaho's beautiful highways and river systems lies an extinct sawmill owned by Producer's Lumber Company, casually known as the Barber Mill Town. Once a riparian marvel of nature, this area comprised of forty acres of wetland, desert, and riparian habitat has been completely bulldozed and destroyed throughout the successful operations of the sawmill days of 1910. Today it is another historic footprint becoming threatened by new residential growth from a population explosion occurring in the young city of Boise, Idaho. With this expansion comes new growth, and with the use of conventional development comes the depletion of more land resources. By cultivating land that has already been disturbed by human populations, existing land resources can be conserved for the use of agriculture and natural systems. Solution 1,500,000 acres of farmland, riparian zones, and industrial zones such as an abandoned sawmill are being converted each year in the United States. The renewal of the brownfield industrial site would provide residential housing for on-site working farms. The farms would include aquaculture, an orchard, and a tree nursery. The new development would be restricted to the boundaries of the brownfield allowing the native environments and existing conditions on the site to prevail. While conventional development aims to deplete more land resources this solution aims to conserve our precious land resources for the production of food and open native habitat. The empty voids within and on the edge of our cities must first be filled in before we decide to move on and develop our greenfields. History of Barberton