LandPaths is an organization dedicated to connecting people with place. The idea is to restore ecological functioning and people’s relationship with land.
Question: Where were you young? How has that place changed?
Importance of Youth: Kids have been disconnected from the land. The land is the vehicle to help people connect to nature and appreciate a different part of the world and themselves. The LandPaths approach is to invite people to discover their place in the world. As such, the idea is to provide access to land parcels that are held in the commons for the people within Sonoma County.
Engagement with many types of people:
• Engage teens /Gen X Y Z
• Engage with diverse ethnicities
• Engage youth with elders
Further increasing our relevance by asking, “Who are we not reaching?” Provide transformational experiences for all. Make the land accessible, approachable and open for exploration. The organization has 20 staff members and numerous volunteers.
An Offering of Programs
In our own backyard
It is a program to connect school kids and a piece of land (public or private) close to their school. The students visit the site four times per year so it becomes their outdoor classroom. LandPaths staff makes two in-class visits and LandPaths pays for bus transportation for the kids.
Bayer Farm
Bayer Farm is a community garden in the middle of Roseland that started August 10, 2007. Many diverse folks have come together to create something that reaches different aspects of the population. During the fires of 2017 folks at Bayer Farm cooked meals for two straight weeks.
Treksonoma
This idea is to spend multiple days trekking across Sonoma County while eating local food, camping out, and really seeing the land without the need for vehicles. Some locations are:
Coast to Freestone
Russian River
Willow Creek Ranch
Community Care—Community to take care of Place
Grove of Old Trees
Riddell Preserve
Bohemia Ecological Preserve
Rancho Mark West
Dawn Redwoods
Fitch Mountain
The Ag and Open Space District has helped keep Sonoma County green.
Queries: mary@landpaths.org
Getting Involved: emmett@landpaths.org
Attend their programs—outdoor expeditions, volunteer with school programs, build trails, maintain historic structures, garden, plan outdoor sites, and more.