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

Our goal: To provide all 700+ In Our Own Backyard (IOOBY) students with a new IOOBY tshirt for the 2009-2010 school year. With IOOBY tshirts, we hope to deepen the students' relationship to the outdoors by providing a tangible, take home reminder of their IOOBY experience. Every time they see and wear their IOOBY tshirt, it will bring back memories of their IOOBY fieldtrips and hopefully remind them how much they like to be outdoors.

We hope to raise a total of $15,000 for IOOBY to cover the cost of all the IOOBY tshirts and sponsor 2 classes (60 students) to participate in the IOOBY experience.

To sponsor an IOOBY student, class, or school you can:

Buy an IOOBY tshirt (click here to purchase online)

• for yourself - $25
• for one IOOBY student - $25
• for yourself and an IOOBY student - $40 ($20 each)
• for an entire IOOBY class (30 students) - $500 ($16.67 each)
• for an entire school (3 classes) - $1200 ($13.33 each)

To pay by credit card, click here for our secure online donation page.  If you prefer to pay by check, send mail to LandPaths c/o IOOBY T-shirts, PO Box 4648, Santa Rosa, CA  95402.  For questions or to specify adult t-shirt size, contact us at education@LandPaths.org.  

Save a bag and support LandPaths at the same time!

Now through early July, Whole Foods Markets in both Sebastopol and Santa Rosa will donate a nickel to LandPaths every time you Bring Your Own Shopping Bag.   

Whole Foods Market is extremely proud of our community involvement and the relationships that we make within our local organizations! One popular community giving program is the 5¢ Bag Refund program. When customers bring in their own bags for groceries they have the option of receiving five cents credit (per bag) or donating the money to a selected charity. Up to three organizations are selected each quarter, or about four times a year.

This program has been enormously successful and generates much needed revenues for the area's nonprofit community. In Santa Rosa alone, over 20,000 bags were reused in the first quarter of this year and the bag refunds donated to local organizations!!

This quarter (ending July 5th), both the Santa Rosa and Sebastopol Whole Foods Market stores chose LandPaths as a beneficiary of the 5¢ Bag Refund program. LandPaths fills a vital role within Sonoma County's environmental community and we are proud to lend our support to this organization. We encourage you to support LandPaths by reusing your shopping bags each time you visit the Whole Foods Market in either Sebastopol or Santa Rosa and identifying LandPaths to the cashiers when asked about donating your bag refund. You can also donate to LandPaths through the Sebastopol Whole Foods Market's Change for Change program (ask a cashier for details).

Thank you for re-using your shopping bags, honoring the environment and supporting both LandPaths and your local Whole Foods Market!

Volunteers contribute tens of thousands of hours each year to parks throughout Sonoma County—from inventories and trail building to habitat restoration.

LandPaths’ vision for "Community-Powered Parks" harnesses this desire to connect with the land and expands it beyond workdays and volunteer patrols— engaging volunteers as community leaders. In this economic climate, such volunteers can be the difference between closing parks and creating thriving park communities where both the visitor and the land benefit.

In these times of strained budgets, LandPaths supports full funding for our park agencies and 'Community Power' to extend resources further.

Three sites where you can see stages of Community-Powered Parks in action are the Grove of the Old Trees, Bayer Farm and the Willow Creek State Park addition/subunit where LandPaths manages both public access and land stewardship in partnership with public agencies and non-profits.

Bike to Work Day - May 14, 2009

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

"Energizer Stations" are located along Bay Area county 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 2007 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.

LandPaths received a letter in January. It was not the first letter, nor the only expression of disappointment in a component of LandPaths' evolving programs.

This "component" is most keenly visible in LandPaths' work at BayerFarm and our inclusion of the Spanish language in our calendar, on our phone system, and as part of our programs. In reading the letter and considering the view point expressed, we choose to examine how we got to Bayer Farm.

It started with a long-standing vision to serve all county residents. This vision rests on an understanding that all Sonoma County residents, acting as individuals, in groups and as a community (because a community we are), will determine the future of our landscape and its many associated values and benefits (i.e. food production, wildlife habitat, clean water and air, respite and rejuvenation).

Acting on this vision began in our Winter 2004 Outings Calendar. We challenged ourselves to: "rethink not just our activities but also our organization, to open up our programs in new ways-ways that we cannot currently conceive."

Bayer Farm would fall into the "cannot currently conceive" category, as would urban walks and gardening. Back in 2004, we understood that diversity included languages, physical and mental abilities, socio-economic status, religions, national origin, race and environmental attitudes and values. And to this we responded with free Outings "diverse by design" including many human-powered modes from hiking and riding to paddling and rolling. We even seek out potentially divergent voices in our Stories About This Place, knowing the rich commonality land brings to us.

The connection between local conservation work and global climate change is now clearer. In 2009 it seems natural to offer child and family friendly Outings, and an urban compliment to our otherwise "out there" Outings-bringing nature home. We piloted an effort to use art to highlight the routes of smaller urban creeks throughout Santa Rosa. We imagined a park that draws kids, adults and families into the natural world. There began Bayer Farm.

LandPaths' work-urban or otherwise-looks at how we relate to the land- and enriches these experiences to elevate a connection to nature.

Breaking language and cultural barriers was requisite to successfully serving our whole community. It's been bumpy. A handful of participants reject the idea and some staff members have struggled with the balance of being inclusive without feeling excluded as English speakers.

Serving our whole community is essential to accomplishing our vision of a County-wide culture respecting and valuing the land, making choices daily to protect and steward the land's ecological health. Through all of this we have tried to stay authentic to who LandPaths is, yet also let the organization evolve with a growing understanding of the physical, emotional and spiritual values entwined with the land and expressions of people's connection to it.

Come on by to explore Bayer Farm in Roseland.  Enjoy garden
activities, arts & crafts for the kids, and community fun.  Bring your friends and family.  All ages welcome. Open Gardens now every Friday from 2-6pm.

Bayer Neighborhood Park and Gardens is a unique collaboration between Santa Rosa Recreation & Parks and the local non-profit LandPaths. It is a 6 acre city park and urban farm in the heart of the Roseland neighborhood, with old barns, beautiful gardens, and plenty of ways to relax and have fun.

Garden Story Time & Family Fun
Every Saturday morning, 10am-noon
Dig into bilingual, nature inspired stories and enjoy the new park and community garden. Garden activities, arts & crafts, free play and more.

Garden Workdays
Every 3rd Sunday, weather permitting
Lend a hand with seed starting, mulching, composting, & more. All ages welcome-no experience necessary

WHERE: Bayer Farm- 1550 West Ave, Santa Rosa (across from Sheppard School) West Ave runs north/south between Hearn and Sebastopol Road in the Roseland neighborhood. 

- Community volunteers prepared Bayer Farm for spring planting and activities, built a greenhouse, weeded garden beds, repaired fences, and more.  Lend a hand at an upcoming workday or just stop by the farm to visit.

- March 20 was the Spring Equinox, "Equinox" meaning "equal night" -the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the Spring and Fall equinoxes.

- Sixteen committed volunteers will help LandPaths manage and steward the community-powered Grove of the Old Trees through a new Grove ‘Chapter' called Friends of the Grove (FOG).

- Hikers on a rainy day tour of the Cooley Ranch had to divert their gaze from the cascading falls to avoid red-bellied newts making their annual breeding migration along the banks of Galloway Creek.

- LandPaths' In Our Own Backyard students planted over 300 native plants and cleared over 4 cubic yards of invasive broom and ivy along urban creeks.

- Hikers spotted over 30 species on a tour of the Laguna de Santa Rosa , nearly 40 species at the Poff Ranch, and a bald eagle soaring above the Russian River near Duncans Mills.

- MLK Day at LandPaths was "a day on, not a day off" with 25 volunteers at our Riddell Preserve. Exotic french broom was cleared, the solar barn got closer to completion and an old trail was brought back to life.

VOTE EARTH - YOUR LIGHT SWITCH IS YOUR VOTE
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world's first global election, between Earth and global warming.

For the first time in history, on Saturday, March 28, from 8:30-9:30pm,  people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote - Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. We are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you're from, but instead, what planet you're from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.