Bountiful Buffers Farming Highlight

Chestnuts from Raising Cane Ranch.

Bountiful Buffers (sometimes referred to as working buffers or harvestable riparian buffers) combine multiple agroforestry practices to create a riparian buffer that achieves ecological benefits while also producing food, medicine, or materials. 

Bountiful Buffers are designed with a traditional, all native, riparian forest buffer zone immediately adjacent to the surface water or wetland and then begin to transition into different zones of production using food forest, forest farming, or sometimes alley cropping agroforestry practices.

This unique design and management of riparian forest buffers can create riparian buffer zones that are wider than if the buffer had been a “no-touch” fully native planting. Bountiful Buffers allow landowners to plant and protect critical riparian buffers along waterways while also maintaining and perhaps increasing production and income potential. 

Adding perennial trees and shrubs along waterbodies can help filter contaminants, stabilize slopes, and reduce the chance of flooding and erosion by absorbing water and holding soil in place. Perennial trees and shrubs also create habitat for pollinators along with beneficial birds and insects that help manage pests. Leaf litter provides a natural soil amendment and the diversity of plants supports a wide range of soil organisms that further improve soil fertility, reducing the need for fertilizer and pesticides.

Interested in learning more about Bountiful Buffers? Contact Snohomish Conservation District’s Agroforester, Carrie Brausieck, at cbrausieck@snohomishcd.org or 703-407-8341.