LandPaths

LandPaths’ mission is to foster a love of the land in Sonoma County. LandPaths provides exceptional outdoor experiences that connect people of all backgrounds to nature, and foster a mutually beneficial relationship between people and the land. We create ways for people to experience the beauty, understand the value, and assist in healing the land.

LandPaths’ three initiatives, Rooting Youth in Nature, Branching Out Conservation for Everyone, and Growing Community with Nature, collectively advance two core goals: to engage more residents with the outdoors in fun, educational ways, and to forge life-long connections to and care for nature and community.

LandPaths’ three initiatives, Rooting Youth in Nature, Branching Out Conservation for Everyone, and Growing Community with Nature, collectively advance two core goals: to engage more residents with the outdoors in fun, educational ways, and to forge life-long connections to and care for nature and community. Our work is intersectional - improving education, health, and sustainability outcomes for all, and making an especially notable impact for those historically excluded from the outdoors by creating opportunities for the practice of community agriculture and the traditional use of healthful plants that has been so long unrecognized in Euro-centric environmental stewardship and conservation movements.

Rooting Youth in Nature provides Sonoma County youth annually with in-school, after-school, and summer programs, including:
• In Our Own BackYard (IOOBY): This school-based program, offered free for elementary schools, the majority of which serve low-income communities. Students participate in four field days and receive two classroom visits, which together develop love of and sense of responsibility for the land while connecting classroom lessons to hands-on learning by meeting Next Generation Science Standards.
• Inspired Forward: Designed to develop comfort, confidence, and interest in nature for youth from underserved communities in Santa Rosa, Inspired Forward includes day and overnight camping trips that build trust, confidence, and healing while engaging youth in hands-on science learning and discovery.
• Summer Camps: Our immersive, playful nature camps get kids outside during the crucial vacation months to connect with nature and community. Campers build skills, confidence, and a sense of stewardship. LandPaths provides scholarship and transportation assistance to 50% of campers.

Branching Out Conservation for Everyone provides 200+ free and low-cost activities annually with activities that build bridges between community-identified needs and concerns- from health to early childhood literacy - and nature.
• Outings & Vamos Afuera: Our monthly Outings bring people of all ages into nature and community throughout the County. Approximately one third of Outings are part of the Spanish language Vamos Afuera program. Participants hike, explore, and engage in experiential learning with local leaders on topics from hongos/mushrooms to observacion de aves/birdwatching, to etnobotánica.
• Community Gardens: Designed as a community hubs, the six-acre Bayer Farm and Andy’s Unity Park engage residents of two of Santa Rosa's most underserved and underrepresented neighborhoods, engaging families from the surrounding neighborhoods, primarily Latinx and Indigenous communities, to grow food, care for the farm and park, and gather together.

Growing Community with Nature engages more than 500 residents annually through "people-powered" land stewardship which builds common purpose and collective joy.

LandPaths’ strengths and capabilities to meet our goals are rooted in a diverse, experienced, and courageous staff and board team, the participation of thousands of volunteers, youth, families, and community partners across the county, and a bold leadership style. Craig Anderson, Executive Director, has 30+ years of outdoor education and leadership experience. He is on the Advisory Council of Bay Area TOGETHER, and a national speaker for Land Trust Alliance. Craig received Bay Nature's Local Hero-Conservation Action award. He has a MS in Range Ecology and BS in Environmental Science. Lee Hackling, Programs Director, works on project development and strategic planning. Her 30+ years at the intersection of social and environmental change include 20 years at LandPaths, launching a Community Conservation Initiative with the Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service in the Bronx, New York City, and prior roles with NYC's Department of Environmental Protection in watershed planning, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Army Corps of Engineers. Lee holds an MLA, a BS in Conservation Biology. LandPaths' program managers and field staff are multi-cultural, racially diverse, many are bilingual, and reflective of the diversity of Sonoma County residents we serve. LandPaths staff have training in positive youth development, trauma-informed care, equity and inclusion, and teaching in the outdoors with urban youth and those communities that have been historically excluded from nature.

andPaths was founded in 1996 to connect the people who live, work, and play in Sonoma County to nature in expansive, creative, educational, and inspiring ways. We’ve grown and evolved. We’ve stayed true to this vision. And we’ve been unwavering in the core beliefs in equitable access to nature and that stewarding the land together builds a stronger, healthier community. Over a quarter of a century later, LandPaths is a leader and a trailblazer, in Sonoma County and beyond. LandPaths has reached over 12,000 elementary-age students since our founding with hands-on, immersive, nature-based environmental education; provided nearly 2,000 public outings, a third of which are now provided in Spanish or bilingually; immersed 1,600 teens in nature with pro-social youth development camps and treks; and protected and stewards over 6,000 acres of publicly accessible open spaces.