Meet LandPaths - Sharing Our Love Of Nature Every Step Of The Way

Stay in touch with LandPaths! We're now on Facebook and Twitter.  Be the first to know about outings, events, and the latest news.

Facebook - Become a LandPaths fan on Facebook and keep up with the latest from Sonoma County's Big Outside! - http://www.facebook.com/LandPaths

Twitter- Follow us on Twitter and get real-time updates from LandPaths programs & properties - http://twitter.com/landpaths

Email eNewsletter
These eNewsletters are sent via email 2-4 times per month. Please click here to join the eNewsletter distribution list.

Quarterly Printed Newsletter
These newsletters are sent via the mail every three months. Please click here to request a printed newsletter subscription.

Hike, bike or horseback ride at the new 1,100 acre Taylor Mountain Open Space Preserve in Santa Rosa - soon to be our newest Regional Park.  Free permits available during park planning process.  Simply attend a 1 hour orientation on the property.   

Permit orientations available in both English and Spanish.  Click here for upcoming dates in May and June.

Another open space purchased by your Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District.

Spring is the perfect time to explore our local farms.  Join us for three new evening farm tours this spring - a chance to see local food up close and take a short hike all in one evening!  On April 29th we'll take in the "Orchards & Birds on Story Creek" near Healdsburg; on May 5th we'll feature the "Omnivore's Solution" near Petaluma, and on May 13 we'll explore nexus of "Nature & Agriculture" near Sebastopol. Use the links below to request space(s) or more information...see you on the farm!

April 29: Orchards & Birds on Story Creek - Join us for a tour of Terry & Carolyn Harrison's bucolic farm west of Healdsburg. Terry, local president of the Community Alliance of Family Farmers (CAFF), will share insights and stories from his 35+ years on the property growing local food and caring for the land. We'll top off our evening with short hike up to the ridge for views, a picnic dinner, and evening birding. Click here to request space.

May 5: The Omnivore's Solution: Tara Firma Farm Tour & Hike - Get up close and personal with organic vegetable and meat production in Petaluma. Inspired by Michael Pollen's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Tara Smith started Tara Firma Farm and CSA. With a conservation easement from the District, the farm also has plans for a 2.5 mile public trail. Click here to request space.

Read more about Tara Firma in the Press Democrat.

May 13: Nature & Agriculture on Duckworth Ranch -Where can you find plum trees, hay fields, chickens, river otters, and relic black oak forest - just outside Sebastopol?  Part of the Nahmens conservation easement from your County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District, Duckworth ranch produces local food AND stewards the land.  We'll talk with Lorri as we walk, keeping watch for bitterns and bobcats on this first ever public tour of the ranch.  Click here to request space.

Spring Calendar of Outings: (PDF link | online calendar)

Spring is here, the flowers are out, and the grass is green - a perfect time to Get Outside in Sonoma County!  LandPaths makes it easy - whether you're looking for vigorous hikes, family explorations, or opportunities to steward some of our beautiful open spaces, you'll find it in LandPaths' Spring Calendar of Outings.

Map caption: LandPaths helped bring the vision of a Sonoma Mountain Ridge Trail closer to reality. This trail is an important link in the Bay Area Ridge Trail, connecting south to the Petaluma Adobe, north west to Hood Mtn, and continuing to encircle the entire Bay Area. More information at: www.ridgetrail.org.

If you prefer, you can now download a printable PDF version of our Calendar. Please note that due to space limitations, the PDF / print version is not a complete list of our outings. For the most current offerings, check our website.

Our Calendar highlights outings from April to June and contains something for just about everybody. Many outings are sponsored by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.

More District-Sponsored Outings
The District sponsors an outings series throughout the county with LandPaths and other partners including the Sonoma Ecology Center, Laguna Foundation, local Resource Conservation Districts, and the Center for Social & Environmental Stewardship.  For a listing of outings offered through this partnership, visit http://www.sonomaopenspace.org/cal.php?view=outings.  

Thanks for your continued interest and support as we work to connect people with the land in Sonoma County.

~Your Friends at LandPaths

Related Documents

LandPaths Spring 2010 Calendar of Outings & Events Download (408Kb, pdf)

Learn more about nationwide efforts to reconnect kids with nature - and then get your kids outside with LandPaths (Family Amphibian Search, April 24).  

The SRJC Foundation David Del Monte Lectureship Endowment proudly presents "Reconnecting Kids with Nature" featuring Avery Cleary, Amy Pertshuck, and Susan Sachs Lipman. Their talk is inspired by the work of author Richard Louv (recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal) and his award-winning book, Last Child in the Woods. The event takes place on Monday, April 12, 2010, 12:15pm at the Newman Auditorium, Santa Rosa Campus. The lecture will also be available via video-conference from the Mahoney Library, Rm. 726, Petaluma Campus. Admission is free, but a $4 permit is required to park on the SRJC campus.

Avery Cleary, Amy Pertshuck, and Susan Sachs Lipman from the Children & Nature Network will discuss the nationwide effort to reconnect children to the outdoors. They will highlight the resources that inspire, empower and engage adult participation in the movement to connect children and nature and simple steps that each of us can take to help make day-to-day experiences of nearby nature the cultural norm. The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working nationally and internationally to reconnect children with nature.

Additional information on their talk and related efforts is available at:

• http://www2.santarosa.edu/file-depot/download.php?action=dl&id=18325
• http://naturecircles.org/averybio.html
• http://www.childrenandnature.org/

Bike to Work Day - May 13, 2010.

Click here for more details from the Sonoma County Bike Coalition.  

"Energizer Stations" are located along commute routes where bicyclists can stop for refreshments, giveaways, and bicycling information or simply to be ‘cheered on' by fellow participants. 

More than one million Bay Area residents live within five miles of their workplace, an ideal distance for bicycling. The work commute only represents 23% of all trips, so consider how you also may be able to bike to shop, to school, for errands, and for social events. In a world concerned with climate change, pollution, congestion and wasted time, the question is: Why not bike to work?

According to the American Community Survey, 43,000 Bay Area residents use a bicycle as their primary means of getting to work every day. On Bike to Work Day, we expect hundreds of thousands of people to bike to work in the Bay Area, with many being first time bike commuters.