programs
Forest Restoration
Cultural Strategy
Retreat Center
Forest Restoration
Healthy communities require healthy forests, which serve as homes to innumerable beings that support life on the planet. Restoring our forests and the carbon they store is a critical piece in mitigating climate change – representing approximately 1/3 of what is needed to avoid catastrophic climate collapse.
Colonial states have failed to properly care for their forests. Under settler occupation, forests have been reduced to tools for resource extraction. Current forest management excludes Indigenous peoples and their ways of knowing and land tending, practices developed over 15,000 years of direct experience.
Shelterwood’s forest stewardship centers “right relations,” drawing on Indigenous cultural practices and centering Kashia wisdom through ongoing partnership. With multi-year state support from CalFIRE, we are returning good fire to the landscape, removing invasive species that threaten ecosystem health, and controlling erosion to support the habitat of endangered coho salmon who live in the creeks on this land.
We see ourselves as one node in an expanding network of land projects, documenting our learning as we restore balance between fire and water. We are also nurturing the next generation of BIPOC and Queer land stewards through workforce development, stewardship residencies, and volunteer workshops.
Volunteer for Forestry Workshops
cultural strategy
Fundamental cultural shifts are required if we as a society hope to adapt to and mitigate the climate crisis. Shelterwood Collective builds on both ancient and emerging narratives that replace damaging myths about relationships between and among land, humans and our more than human world.
Artists are critical partners in envisioning a climate-resilient future, especially those who are imagining and creating toward a just, ecologically-aligned world. Their visions are woven through all our programs, and we are integrating their creations into the landscape of Shelterwood. They energize our collective, spark fresh ideas, and inspire us to center new practices and narratives that reposition the climate movement culture.
One such shift is a move away from “protecting pristine places” and toward healing interconnected ecosystems. We believe centering the role of Queer, Indigenous, Disabled, and folks of color as land stewards provides a long-overlooked pathway toward climate resilience and adaptation.
Another imperative is refusing the destructive, ableist notion that disability is antithetical to thriving within a robust ecosystem aligned with nature and the outdoors. By prioritizing access improvements to our campus infrastructure and learning anti-ableist practices that embody Disability Justice, we are positioned to hold our disabled community on the land, offering a counter-narrative to this harmful mindset.
Our internal cultural work provides another opportunity to explore right relations. As a collective, we experiment with horizontal community governance structures that guide the ways we work as a team, listen to the land, and care for each other. By centering interconnectivity and collective health, we hope to engender an outward ripple and provide a radically inclusive, healing, and accessible culture for all visitors.
Together, our stories transcend the forest edge, reach wider audiences and contribute to an emerging movement culture.
Retreat Center
Shelterwood operates a retreat center where guests can find refuge and healing within an ecosystem that is being returned to ecological balance.
Our multi-year renovations are transforming the deteriorating buildings of the former youth church camp into a multi-functional retreat center. In our first year on the land, we engaged more than 150 people to inform the design—including local residents, social justice organizations, artists, and climate and cultural strategists.
We invite organizations to Shelterwood to host retreats, gatherings, celebrations and ceremonies that advance community healing. We also offer space for individuals and families to connect with themselves and find rest and replenishment among the redwoods. Drop us a line to learn more about our retreat offerings.
