LandPaths
Programs
LandPaths Nature Programs
LandPaths is an environmental education and conservation leader with the mission to foster a love of the land in Sonoma County. Everyone should have access to the awe and inspiration of nature.Annually, LandPaths engages thousands of participants in joyful, caring, and transformative relationships with the land. This is done mainly through creative outings led in both English and Spanish, environmental education, nature camps, and people-powered land stewardship of local open spaces.With a commitment to equity in the outdoors and building reciprocal relationships, LandPaths programs are offered free or sliding scale, or with robust scholarships, led by diverse participants. Three Core Initiatives: 1)Rooting Youth in Nature: We reduce the barriers and expand opportunities to get outside so that youth can experience wonder, joy, awe, belonging, and a sense of stewardship in nature. 2)Branching Out Conservation for Everyone: With a dedication to equity and inclusion, we reduce the barriers to increase access for people historically excluded from positive connection with nature and the outdoors. 3)Growing Community With Nature: Facing the challenges like catastrophic fire and drought dramatically increased by climate change, LandPaths more than ever believes in forging care and connection between people and the land. From stewardship days for all ages to conservation workforce training, we address community care with curiosity, determination, and creativity.LandPaths programs are as follows:Rooting Youth in NatureLandPaths creates models for impactful nature-based youth experiences. In fiscal year 2023-2024 youth spent a total of 30,112 hours immersed in nature with LandPaths serving 1507 youth. We draw heavily on research finding that multi-day programs and consistent mentors are key factors that increase the long-term impact on a childs relationship and attitudes toward nature. In Our Own BackYard is a nature awareness program built to enhance student connection and confidence in the outdoors. In Our Own BackYard, school-based, provides an in-depth experience to 17 schools for a total of 78 field trips in Sonoma County with 4-full day field trips, and 2 classroom visits over the course of the school year, averaging 20 hours in the field per student. In Our Own BackYard curriculum correlates with many of the state and federal science, math, language arts and physical education standards, and anticipates strong alignment with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. In Our Own BackYard program serves approximately 762 students, is offered for free to schools with over 50% of the student body qualifying for free and reduced lunch. In 2012, LandPaths launched a teen-focused program, Inspired Forward. Built on the In Our Own BackYard model, Inspired Forward is a field-based, multi-day program. Inspired Forward is a unique offering to historically marginalized youth, providing experiential learning opportunities and tackling teen issues of gang prevention, substance use, and other challenges through developing a strong sense of belonging, confidence, and leadership while role-modeling positive choices. Inspired Forward is offered free to schools and partner organizations serving low-income communities. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year we worked with 7 school partners offering 24 class visits and 64 field trips to 9 open space locations. In Fiscal year 2023-2024, our camps continued to expand based on demand. LandPaths provided 17 weeks of camps and 58% of campers received a scholarship. LandPaths Owl Camp is a nature-based summer immersion program for kids from 6 to 13 years old. Owl Camp offers a rich place for children to explore the natural world, test out new ideas and experience the freedom of child-directed, open-ended learning through nature exploration and play guided in small groups by expert educators. Camp Trillium is a newer nature camp program for youth between the ages of 9 13 focused on creating a sense of belonging in nature for LGBTQI+ youth and allies. Each summer as children work through how to build a fort, experiment with art, or discover native plants and animals, they are exercising their brains in important waysand building a memorable connection with the land in every step. LandPaths also offers RiverTrek camps. In 2022-2023 we were able to bring back RiverTrek with overnights, successfully serving dozens of teens. Consistent with LandPaths youth programs, these camps immerse youth in nature and develop outdoor skills, such as paddling, camp cooking, fire starting, filtering water all the way down to caring for your feet and hands (and blisters). These experiences and skill development, build participant sense of belonging (with nature and with peers) and confidence in continuing outdoor activities and exploration for a lifetime. Branching out Conservation for EveryoneLandPaths is Sonoma Countys lead public access organization, working County-wide to provide public outings annually with over 5,000 participantsall with an exemplary safety record. This year we celebrated the 15th anniversary of Vamos Afuera con LandPaths and took 52 first-time campers out into nature with Vamos Afuera. Diverse by design, LandPaths Outings and Vamos Afuera, include themed hikes, farm tours, camp outs, kayak trips, Spanish-language and stewardship projects allowing residents and visitors to discover the Countys beauty and take part in its healing. We tap our communitys local knowledge and experience in creating the Outings and shaping engaging programs. Our passion is to invite all Sonoma County residents outdoorsincluding the most reluctant or unfamiliarsparking their curiosity in nature through positive and relevant nature-based experiences. In 2007, LandPaths broke ground at Bayer Farm setting off an avalanche of firsts. Bayer Farm was our first urban park project, our first partnership with the City of Santa Rosa, our first partnership with the Latinx Community, and our first community garden. Since that time Bayer Farm has grown into a farm-based community center with programs ranging from Lets Read Outside, a nature-based early childhood literacy program to Summer Free Lunch. In fiscal year 2023-2024 494 children were read to during Lets Read outings at our community gardens. In 2017 we were invited to partner with Sonoma County Regional Parks to create another community garden based on the Bayer Farm model at Andys Unity Park. Two years ago, the name of the garden was changed to Jeff Bodwin Community Garden to honor a longtime gardener there who was integral to the founding of the program. Program accomplishments in these place-based, outdoor community hubs include food production plots that provide access to fresh vegetables and fruits for 127 families in the primarily Latinx communities surrounding the two community gardens. LandPaths also offers robust docent program opportunities at Lafferty Ranch in Petaluma and Bohemia Ecological Preserve in Occidental with about 25 docents. Docents offer hikes at least 3 to 4 times a month at Lafferty Preserve and at least twice a month at Bohemia Ecological Preserve, which often fill up, and serve 20 participants at a time. Growing Community with Nature/Community CareLandPaths champions community conservation, where residents participate in actions that support a healthy communitynature and people alike. People Powered Parks is our approach to land stewardship, on our own lands and lands we assist in managing for Agency partners. LandPaths owns six unique preserves in Sonoma County: Bohemia Ecological Preserve, Ocean Song/Myers Preserve, and Grove of the Old Trees in West County, Rancho Mark West and Calistoga Road in northeast Santa Rosa, and Riddell Preserve in the Healdsburg area. Totaling over 2,520 protected acres of land in Sonoma County, the properties are diverse in habitat values, from old growth redwoods, serpentine soils and associated plant community, madrone and oak woodland, to salmon bearing creeks. Our Preserves originate with shared values between the landowner and LandPathsvalues of land stewardship and community engagement. LandPaths actively takes care of these lands with on-going community investments to remove non-native plant species and planting natives to improve native wildlife habitat, repairing old ranch roads to improve water quality and steelhead spawning habitat, and building trails for future public use. In 2021, LandPaths acquired the Myers parcel adjoining Ocean Song preserve in West Sonoma County, creating an almost 800-acre unified preserve, which will contribute to carbon sequestration, fire fuel reduction, habitat protection, and outdoor educational opportunities in our region. The Young Stewards launched in 2021, arising from our commitment to build climate and wildfire resilience locally, advance equity in the conservation field through intentional recruitment and paid work experience, and respond to the need for green workforce training fGeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2023 – Jun 30, 2024Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$2.2M
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