Trails
Landscape and Forestry
Our Landscape and Forestry Team has an ambitious charter. There are forest thinning, brush clearing, and oak habitat improvement projects in motion, funded by grants. (Thank You California Forestry Improvement Program and US Fish & Wildlife!)
In 2021, we embarked on a biochar tree-planting experiment to see how using biochar could increase the viability of young saplings during the punishingly hot drought. More recently, we've reseeded over-grazed lands to organically crowd out invasive star thistle, to provide better forage for our animals, and to improve the soil.
And we have road building and reservoir projects next in the queue. We plan to first focus on the small projects with big gains, for instance, capturing as much water runoff as we can during the winter wet season
Ranching
We believe that well-managed animal impact is a critical component of regenerative agriculture. We have chosen Criollo Cattle and Spanish Goats for their hardiness and compatibility with our landscape forage opportunities. We currently have a small herd of 14 cattle, will soon have over 60 goats, and plan to grow the herds as we grow the team and gain experience. We will sell animals as replacements (for others building their herds) and for meat.
Guest Experiences
There are soooo many opportunities for Guest Experiences on the land! One of our favorite dreams and goals is to build a Mountain Bike Destination with hundreds of miles of trails: there isn’t a place that exists like this in the world! To get started, we’ve mapped our first 9-mile-loop trail with plans to begin building this winter.
We have plans for camping/lodging, bike/sporting events, and weddings. We’d love to become an educational hub.
Product
One of the biggest challenges and opportunities we have is an enormous amount of ponderosa pine that is dying and needs to be harvested. Our best financial opportunity is to set up a saw mill and convert the logs into sellable products, such as tiny homes and log cabin kits. Numerous other ideas have been discussed, but this will be our first focus.