Elk Trail

On40 Areas and Elk Trails

An On40 area is an enclave, a park-size of at least 40 acres, large enough to sustain a stable natural ecological network of plants and animals, while encouraging humans and pets to roam free, to engage and become part of the landscape

Elk Trail is a view of the whole landscape, a lattice of connectors that allow safe and unimpeded passage for animals (such as Elk) to traverse during daily or seasonal migrations.

Elk Trail + On40 is a landscape design concept derived of the need for the land’s natural creatures to be able to continue to use habitats even as humans sprawl and urbanize.  Given 20th century patterns of fractured, paved, sterile living, Elk Trail + On40 allows coexistence and partnership of humans with original members of the Land Ecosystem

History and Connection

By connecting on40 enclaves with Elk Trails, both historical use patterns can be sustained, and migrating animals and plants can find their way through to the resources they need to survive.  Over-urbanized human life and culture gets a beautiful twenty-first century uplift: connectivity…community…infrastructure…peace…healthy, meditative flows of activity, energizing commutes to work spaces instead of the frustrations and terrible isolation of snarled highways

Landscape-scale percolation and resilience

Elk Trail is akin to other implementations of Green Belts, frequently used to ensure that new development areas maintain enough natural space to allow pleasant walks, bicycle and other human-powered transportation, and traversal of roads and highways without impedance

In our bigger vision, Elk Trail is a national program, similar to National Parks and Monuments, the difference being Elk Trail is an ‘access’ concept, where habitats, cities, towns, and villages are connected in a contiguous lattice of non-paved trails from Coast to Coast

I. Restoration of Original Patterns of Migration and Resilence

II. Work/Home Commuting and Physical Connection suitable to 21st century Work and Living

According to our founding principles, an Elk Trail must be in all places “at least 13 Elks wide”, and follow all the naturalistic and natural-law guidance outlined in the On40 Principles.