Sustainable Food Production Plan for Taylor Wilderness Research Station.

           

College students across the nation are asking for locally, sustainably produced food and the number of campus farms have increased in the past decade.  The ability to produce food on-site, however, is difficult on remote research stations common to land-grant universities. This research project will develop a sustainable food production plan for the University of Idaho’s Taylor Wilderness Research Station (TWRS) located in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area.  The plan will utilize agroecological guidelines suggested by Wojtkowski (2006) that focus on providing for the basic needs and quality of life of humans, doing no harm to the natural ecosystem, plants, or wildlife of the area, and planning for an ecologically sound, or sustainable, future. On-site production of food consumed by students and researchers at the TWRS will contribute to the overall sustainability of the station by decreasing the amount of produce flown in by bush plane each week. This project will assess the overall growing environment and identify the most appropriate gardening techniques for use at the TWRS based on research and a pilot project.  Additionally, it will identify production goals and needs based on the expected population and productivity. Finally, it will draft a management plan for the TWRS garden that can be used by future students and staff as a guidebook to sustainable production of vegetables on-site.