A regional land-use planning studio for a 100-square-mile area in the Cascade Mountains east of Salem, Oregon.
The Elkhorn Watershed
The project aimed to improve land-use decision-making by using watersheds as an organizing principle for systems analysis and design rather than nonphysical boundaries.
The watershed's primary land uses were logging, mining, and the quiet Elkhorn Valley Golf Course, located only a few miles from the towering old-growth forests of the Opal Creek Wilderness.
The base plan's contours were hand-inked from several USGS quadrangle maps, and slopes were shaded with graphite to represent available ultraviolet energy on the ground.
Color on a sepia-paper print of the base plan suggested the land's inherent carrying capacity.
The analysis considered overlays of soils, landforms, wind exposure, seasonal temperatures, and hydrology.
Additional plan overlays were proposed, but gaps in the data prevented the project from advancing beyond environmental analysis.
