Ready to Act
For Land and Community
Established in 1996, LandPaths is a nonprofit community conservation organization with the mission of fostering a love of the land in Sonoma County.
Diverse by design, we achieve this through three core initiatives:
- Rooting youth in nature
- Branching out conservation for everyone
- Growing community with nature
Read our response to the COVID-19 pandemic here.
Our Initiatives
Get Kids Outside
Rooting Youth in Nature
Play in nature reduces stress, promotes healthy sleep, enhances creativity and self-respect in children. Learning in nature has been proven to improve academic achievement, problem solving, social awareness and enthusiasm for school.
We reduce the barriers and expand opportunities to get outside so that more children can reap the benefits found in nature.
Explore
Branching Out Conservation for Everyone
We expand the percentage of people in Sonoma County who benefit from healthy land, understand the value of nature, and cultivate a sense of reciprocity with the environment. We welcome new perspectives and believe it is our job to expand the conservation movement to the larger community.
Community Care
Growing Community with Nature
As we face a climate crisis, LandPaths more than ever believes in the importance of forging essential connections between people and the land. From stewardship opportunities to multi-day treks across the land to community gardens and collective gatherings in nature, we address community care from many angles. Every one equally important.
Featured Outings
Covid-19 Safe Art and Exploration at Rancho Mark West
Day: Saturday, July 25, 2020
Time: (Two sessions!) 9 – 12pm; 12:30-3:30pm
Location: Rancho Mark West, Santa Rosa
Get outside and explore Rancho Mark West through a creative lens. Come take a saunter along the Mark West Creek and enjoy the beautiful oak woodlands, douglas fir, madrones and redwoods along the trails. LandPaths will have water coloring kits for families/individuals that you will take home or you can bring your own sketchbook and preferred medium of illustration. We are inviting families and individuals to explore Rancho Mark West through a self-guided walk through the property along marked trails while creating art!
Free Summer Lunch Program
June 1 – August 7, 2020 at Bayer Farm and Andy’s Unity Park Community Garden
Bayer Farm – Monday through Friday, 10am – 11am
Andy’s Unity Park – Mondays at 10am for entire week’s pick-up
Leaders: LandPaths, City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma County Regional Parks, Redwood Empire Food Bank
Parents and guardians of any children under the age of 18 can pick up lunch for their children to take home. Please wear a mask and practice social distancing. Our wonderful volunteers are also taking precautions and practicing mask-wearing and social-distancing as they distribute lunches.
Yellow Star Thistle Stewardship Week
Dates: July 21 – 24, 2020
Time: 8am to 2pm
Location: Bohemia Ecological Preserve
Limited to a certain number of participants each day due to Covid-19 safety policies.
Yellow Star Thistle is an invasive that has the ability to severely out compete native grassland species. Each plant can disperse up to 35,000 seeds per year making Yellow Start Thistle removal a priority in our native grasslands. For four days, July 21 – 24, LandPaths staff and volunteers will be removing the plants by hand in honor of our commitment to steward in a low-carbon way. Registration is required in advance, and for each separate day, as safety and health is the priority.
Choose a day and register today!TrekSonoma: Wild Foraging Adventure
Dates: August 6, 7, 8 and 9, 2020
Location: Ocean Song Preserve
Leaders: Meghan Walla-Murphy and guest chef and wild forager Coby Leibman
Cost: $400
Join LandPaths’ TrekSonoma for a three-day wild-foraging and land stewardship adventure. Witness the bounty that nature offers in our summer season—wild greens, elderberries, rosehips, huckleberries, wild roots and many other tasty ingredients! And while we forage we will learn how to tend these amazing plants and landscapes so that they flourish and become more resilient.
Sign Up for the Wild Foraging AdventureStories + News
Stories from the Field
The Power of LandPaths’ Community Gardens in Pandemic Times
July 23, 2020
Tags: Bayer Farm, branching out conservation for everyone, Community Garden, Covid-19
When LandPaths broke ground at Bayer Farm in 2007 and kids from the neighborhood began planting seeds on a neglected plot of land in Roseland, we knew …
The Power of LandPaths’ Community Gardens in Pandemic Times Read Article
Strawberries, Chickens, Pickles, and Creeks: Otherwise Known as Just Another Magical Day at Owl Camp North!
July 9, 2020
Tags: Food, Healdsburg, Nature Camp, Owl Camp, Preston Farm
Two Fridays ago marked the end of another exuberantly successful two weeks of Owl Camp North at Preston Farm. For the second year, LandPaths partnered with Lou …
Cosechando Con La Comunidad/Harvesting for the Community
July 2, 2020
Tags: Bayer Farm, Community Garden, Roseland, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, Volunteer
[In English below] Los jardineros de nuestra comunidad en Bayer Farm están en el centro de nuestra misión de fomentar el amor por la tierra en el …
Cosechando Con La Comunidad/Harvesting for the Community Read Article
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