©JO PALMA + PARTNERS
Shortlisted proposal to the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch Design Challenge.
Collaboration with Jo Palma, Iana Kolev, Daniel Confroy, Han Shen, Zach Coffin, Alex Au, Dr. Ryan Wartena
REGENERATING FLY RANCH
The Paiute people of Nevada’s great basin have a particular ethos about living with
nature in treating the land as if it were their own backyard. Instead of seeing nature as a
resource, they cultivate the land for the benefit of it. Thousands of years ago, the Paiute
dug irrigation ditches that routed runoff from melting Sierra Nevada snows into the
valley. Unlike modern irrigation practices, the Paiute didn’t channel the water to serve
specific parcels of land; instead, they looked at the entire landscape as a garden and
made the valley bloom with wild, native plants. The extraction of various natural
resources in the region surrounding Fly Ranch has been disastrous for the environment.
Water resources have depleted through the canal, and mining and industrial farming
continue to damage the ecosystem. Our proposal aims to restore this harmonious
relationship between the Paiute people and the land.
TECHNOLOGY
To achieve our goal, we plan to use technologies based on autonomous infrastructure
to harvest invasive species, plant native vegetation, and create an irrigation system on
the grassland. These rewilding vehicles will collect invasive plants on Fly Ranch, grind
them up, and pile the material on the ground in a pre-determined pattern. Once the piled
organic matter has decomposed, seeds of native species will be spread on it. The
pattern will slowly become visible as the native plants grow, thus forming a large-scale
land art. The rewilding vehicle is a small, lightweight electric vehicle capable of having
different tools attached to it, like an autonomous farming robot commonly seen today.
The attached tools will be available for operations such as collecting and grinding the
plants, piling the organic materials for decomposition and spreading native species’
seeds.
ACTIVITY
This proposal would support community engagement programs to teach Paiute
traditions and volunteer works. We believe this project will allow Fly Ranch to lead by
example and demonstrate how we can reverse years of poor land treatment through
smart and sustainable solutions.
OPERATION
To operate our system, we’ve centered it around a number of hub areas where there will
be solar panels to provide power to the autonomous rewilding vehicles. Along with the
vehicles themselves, tools for other various operations will be needed, and shelters to
protect the vehicles. Instead of abiding by the Paiute traditions and Burning Man’s ethos
of “leave no trace” we propose any structures be bio-degradable 3D printed structures.
These structures can also provide unique opportunities for creative placemaking and
community engagement programs such as summer camps to learn about Fly Ranch
and responsible, sustainable infrastructure.
OUTPUT
The autonomous infrastructure’s waste output creates a loop cycle where the waste
would be compostable and used to help the native plants grow—the ecological
transformation itself, from harmful invasive species to native species.
COST ESTIMATE
Required number to be developed with Fly Ranch Team
Autonomous Vehicles: Approximately $20,000 per vehicle
Solar: Approximately $400 per panel
STRATEGY
Our strategy of rewilding infrastructure would happen over a multi-year process. This
strategy would include the deployment of the autonomous robots and the solar panels
needed to power them. After their deployment on-site, they will begin removing invasive
species, water distribution, and seed planting to start the land art cycle.
ENVIRONMENT
The environmental impact left by the autonomous vehicles will be minimal. Inevitably,
the machines will leave tire marks on the landscape, but in taking inspiration from the
traditional Paiute irrigation system, these marks will guide and spread water throughout
the land. The design of our proposal is ephemeral. As the rewilding process progresses
and local ecology improves, the artificial pattern will slowly fade as nature begins to take
over.