Rural Living Handbook
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Rural Living Handbook
"Everything you didn’t know you need to know about rural living in Washington County!”
Whether its your first time learning about the conservation practices, or your family has been land tending for generations, welcome!
We wrote this handbook to be your go-to reference about taking care of rural land and water in Washington County. We strongly believe that conservation benefits not only natural areas but our communities and livelihoods, too.
Why did we write a 2nd edition?
New rural neighbors need new rural skills.
Tualatin SWCD published the first Rural Living Handbook in 2016, inspired by Jackson SWCD in southern Oregon.
Since then, Washington County has welcomed many new residents moving from urban areas. However, many new folks aren't familiar with the unique responsibilities and challenges that come with rural living.
One of those responsibilities is taking care of the land, water, and ecosystems on your property. Using conservation practices can help residents and land managers reach their goals for a property. Together, we can take care of all of the things that make rural Washington County so great.
Who is this for?
Anyone curious about rural land management in Washington County. Newcomers, longtime residents brushing up, or future rural landowners planning ahead: you're all welcome here.
The Rural Living Handbook is a resource for making smarter, more informed decisions.
Don't live in Washington County? Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District for resources near you.
Complete List of Additional Resources
Each chapter in Parts 2 & 3--chapter 5-17--ends with a great List of Additional Resources. Many of these are resources are websites or webpages, while others are booklet or article pdfs. We've found online versions of them all for your convenience!
Click on a chapter title below to explore further reading and research on each subject. Contact the listed organization to ask about paper/physical copies of PDFs.
For folks reading the digital PDF: click on any underlined text to open that resource webpage in your internet browser. We'll work to keep this list up to date, but please let us know if a link is broken.
Want a copy? Get in touch!
Copies of the Rural Living Handbook are available at the Tualatin SWCD office. Please contact either staff below to schedule a pick-up time.
For questions about rural land care or to request a site visit, please contact Nicole.
For questions about educational materials and events, please contact Alex.
