We love to get feedback, especially from someone who truly GETS IT! Thanks Mark Morley for sharing your perspective on LandPaths' work!
"I wanted to take a moment to respond to Craig Anderson's comments in the Press Democrat today. I was one of the volunteers at the Grove of Old Trees work event last month and I found it to be a revelation." I am relatively new to Sonoma County and had been looking for resource management volunteer opportunities. Looking at some of the park agencies, the formal options seemed limited to gate closer and dog park attendant. These volunteer positions are undoubtedly important in meeting the parks' resource management goals, but not what I had in mind.
I used to be a park ranger with East Bay Regional Parks District, so I was not entirely surprised by the lack of organized volunteer possibilities. In my experience, park staff often find volunteer events to be more trouble than they can justify. And with budgets and staffing tight, opportunities for volunteers may be considered a luxury rather than a necessity. Personally, I loved leading volunteer events: the freshness and eagerness of volunteers, the opportunities for mutual learning, and the incredible amount of goodwill and buy-in generated for the parks.
The Grove of Old Trees event seemed to offer all of these advantages and honored the skills of volunteers in a way that I had never experienced before. I really appreciate how this event allowed participants to give of themselves in whatever way they could and to the extent of their abilities. The lack of hierarchy and rigidity in the event seems to mirror the incredibly informal and welcoming nature of this park. It feels like a people's park: people-shaped and dynamic. Contributing to its upkeep was a pleasure, and I thank you for the opportunity.
And I thank you for, more generally, moving parks into the center of Sonoma County society. Having spent five years in Portland, OR, I have been somewhat dismayed upon my return to the Bay Area by the relative lack of urban venues for positive social interaction. But, I think what you are doing is taking Sonoma County's greatest asset--its incredible landscape--and turning it into one of those venues.
Mr. Anderson wrote of "strengthening community connections" in the process of maintaining the Grove of Old Trees". And I think this may be an even greater contribution of LandPaths than its facilitation of land acquisition and holding, and the eventual opening to the public of those lands. In a very literal sense, you are providing "common ground" for Sonoma County residents to come together, to learn, to appreciate, and to celebrate.
Having (briefly) supervised corps members from Conservation Corps North Bay, I have seen additional examples of how our landscapes can be a venue for learning, for testing one's mettle, and for building camaraderie and community. Before that experience, and before the Grove of Old Trees event, I truly had not imagined all the possibilities for human and societal growth that our public lands hold. I look forward to learning more about LandPaths and to watching as you continue to transform our parks and our community. Keep up the good work!"
Please join us on Saturday, Sept. 25 for a special evening at Occidental’s Golden Apple Ranch benefiting 
Volunteers contribute tens of thousands of hours each year to parks throughout Sonoma County—from inventories and trail building to habitat restoration. 
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