1.1 Prologue

In his report on the history of the family property on Magnolia Road, Will Kellogg (Kellogg, 1997) writes:

When a family takes the big step of buying a piece of our planet, always at some financial sacrifice, each member of the family must have a somewhat different vision of what it all means. Obviously we all fell in love with its natural beauty. Furthermore, a daughter saw it as an opportunity to have a horse or two at home; a son saw a chance to build a log cabin of his own; another son saw it as a place to develop a haven for teenage fellowship -- and possibly a trout pond. Elizabeth and I saw how it could be a new mountain home for all of us.

In a more fundamental way, I think we were inspired by the thought that we could become stewards of a small valley. It would be up to us to work to improve the forest, to see that the pasture was properly grazed, to protect the streams and the beavers that lived in them, to open up hiking trails, to establish a healthy balance between our family and the native inhabitants. We accepted that responsibility with enthusiasm.

The struggle to develop our acres is a story of dreams come true and some disappointments. It involves relating our efforts to those of our predecessors, of learning how to run a “ranch”, of adapting to an environment with which we had had little experience.

Up and down Magnolia Road we see our neighbors involved in private struggles to follow similar dreams. Our story will probably strike familiar chords with them.

Similar visions and dreams are indeed a common theme among the residents of the Magnolia area.

In addition to dealing with personal and family challenges, the Magnolia neighborhood increasingly finds itself having to address issues and concerns beyond the boundaries of their individual, private parcels.

Will Kellogg touches on another key principle, that of accepting responsibility. In order to effectively and fairly address issues of neighborhood concern, residents must embrace, to the greatest extent possible, the following attributes of responsibility:

1. become thoroughly informed on the issues and the governmental regulations that apply to those issues
2. act from a factual basis
3. work together as a community and develop a common vision
4. clearly articulate this common vision
5. acknowledge the interests that other entities have in the Magnolia area
6. work within an accepted and widely recognized planning framework
7. have a commitment to work proactively, and avoid, when possible, negative and reactionary measures

The Magnolia Environmental Preservation Plan is an attempt to both describe the common dreams and visions of the neighborhood, and to act responsibly as a neighborhood. The process of developing this plan, and its purpose, is described in this section of the report.