One of the key goals of work at Earth Sanctuary is to create an optimal habitat for the maximum diversity and number of birds, wildlife, plants and fungi.

Because mature old-growth forest fosters the greatest biodiversity, we have devised a "500-Year Plan" to acknowledge that the ecological communities of the Earth Sanctuary will take hundreds of years to recover from past land use practices and develop into their fullest expression as a diverse and mature ecosystem. Also, the 500-Year Plan acknowledges the human commitment necessary to preserve, protect, and restore the Earth Sanctuary landscape over the long term.

The details of the 500-Year Plan are described in an extensive report. This 100-page document presents the Earth Sanctuary's ecological design process in four sections:

• The Earth Sanctuary landscape and land use history.
• The process of delineating and mapping the environmental regulatory landscape, including wetlands, streams, and ponds.
• An overview of the vegetation, wildlife, and fish surveys we have conducted - the scientific basis for the ecological design.
• The landscape and restoration design projects.

In addition, the plan includes extensive appendices detailing high-tech survey techniques; wetland, wildlife, and fish studies; and plant lists. The 500-Year Plan was prepared by wetland and river ecologist Kevin Fetherston. It incorporates contributions on wetlands and vegetation by Scott D. Miller, on wildlife by Kathryn Kelsey, and on fish by Ann Garrett.

It is hoped that the 500-Year Plan can serve as an inspiration and model for future developers and ecologists. It is a real-life project that holistically integrates the best in ecological study with landscape design, environmental art, and traditional earth energy studies.

The 500-Year Plan is divided into the following sections:

• Section 1- Table of Contents and Introduction
• Section 2 - Site Description and Land Use History
• Section 3 - Wetlands, Streams, and Ponds: Mapping the Regulatory Landscape
• Section 4 - Vegetation, Wildlife, and Fish Surveys
• Section 5 - Landscape and Restoration Design
• Section 6 - Appendix A: Survey Techniques, Geographic Information System (GIS), and Computer Aided Design (CAD)
• Section 7 - Appendix B: The Earth Sanctuary Vegetation Survey and Inventory
• Section 8 - Appendix C: The Earth Sanctuary Bog/Fen Wetland Ecosystem Draft Report.
• Section 9 - Appendix D: Earth Sanctuary Wildlife Report
• Section 10 - Appendix E: Earth Sanctuary Fish Assessment
• Section 11 - Appendix F: Plant List for Artwork Landscape, Riparian and Forest Restoration Plantings

The 500-Year Plan document is in PDF format that requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.