Soon after Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI) was formed, Time magazine predicted that many of our basic assumptions about economic life would be overturned and that sustainable development would become the defining challenge of the 21st century.

Now that we have experienced a taste of what the new century has to offer, Time has once again hit the mark for accuracy with a year-end cover story entitled The Decade From Hell which ­describes our current collective situation thusly – “Bookended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipeout at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most dispiriting and disillusioning decade… In large part, we have ourselves to blame. If you look at the underlying causes of some of the most troubling developments of the decade, you can see some striking ­common denominators…neglect… greed…self-interest…deferral of responsibility.”

At this bleak winter beginning of a new decade while we wait for a ­hoped-for spring thaw in mortgage lending and economic activity, let us reflect on the history of a similar time and the ­lessons to be learned from the Father of Land Development – George ­Washington.

When George Washington set out from Mount Vernon on May 4, 1775, to attend the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, little did he know that more than six years would pass before he again saw his beloved home on the Potomac. Washington had been planning to personally oversee the final development of his extensive Mount Vernon project but as the war lengthened interminably, stretching out to eight-and-a-half years in all, Washington realized that the struggling American cause could ill afford him the luxury of a long furlough at home. The lack of a strong central government and of a dependable standing army of well-trained veterans meant that more often than not it was George Washington who had to pick up the pieces when the American cause was in deep trouble. In order to properly address his development responsibilities on the home front, George Washington hired his distant cousin Lund Washington to be the Mount Vernon plantation manager during the war.
George Washington kept in close contact with his manager through weekly correspondence, and their letters back and forth include detailed instructions and advice on the one hand and questions and progress reports on the other.

These letters also show that although Washington did not see Mount Vernon for many years, he could call up in his mind’s eye a vivid picture of any room in the mansion or any field on the plantation. Writing to Lund in August 1776, only a few days before the Battle of Long Island, the general displays his mastery of detail in his instructions for planting trees around the mansion, which was then being enlarged with the addition of the south and north wings. George Washington constantly struggled to acquire the necessary materials and skilled workmen to carry out his vision.

The Continental Army’s encampment at Valley Forge in the winter and spring of 1777-78, has become enshrined in the popular mind as the epitome of suffering borne by dedicated Revolutionary soldiers and officers. The question of winter quarters has been thoroughly studied as a case history in dealing with the factors of supply, morale, discipline, and sacrifice. This was a hard test for which there was no simple correct answer and Washington’s decisions were hardly immune to strong political pressures but Washington saw that political demands and military necessity largely coincided in the bigger picture.
It was out of this cold and seemingly desperate situation that George Washington was able to turn the tide and ultimately secure victory and independence for the United States against the most powerful military force in the world. SLDT

About the author: Terry Mock is executive ­director of SLDI. He can be reached at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it