Page 17 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2018

TRAVEL cont’d from page 16
Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District piloted a multi-day trek starting at Shell Beach and traversing inland for three days to end in Freestone. Since then, LandPaths has grown its TreksSonoma program to offer 8-10 treks each year, ranging in geography from the oak grasslands of Sonoma Mountain to the redwoods of West County. Collaborators include local ranchers, timber companies, and friendly neighbors who welcome organized walks across
Some countries, such as England, follow “right to roam” laws—which give the general public right to walk across certain types of public and private lands for recreational purposes. The United States, on the other hand, gives private owners the right to exclude the public from any privately held land. “When I learned that 95 percent of the land in Sonoma is privately owned,” said Demas “I realized ‘oh wow, they’ve got some work to do, in figuring out how to work with land owners.’”
parts of their land. LandPaths continues to work with local partners, such as Sonoma County Regional Parks, the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District and private ranching and farming families.
He pointed to the Irish experience as one case study to examine, because the Irish share a similarly fierce devotion to private land rights. The Irish were able to create walking paths across private property through a recipe of payments to property owners, legal indemnification for property owners, a collaboration of private land owners and government officials, and a staff liaison dedicated to communicating with land owners.
TrekSonoma even offers a Russian River Trek, which follows the meandering path of the Russian River. Some journeys include fully catered meals, while others—such as the Stone Soup Trek—lower costs by inviting participants to bring with them some ingredients to make acommunal meal.
“If we were daunted by the matrix of private land in Sonoma County, we wouldn’t be able to call ourselves Land Partners Through Stewardship – the full name of LandPaths” said Craig Anderson, the group’s Executive Director. “Besides, the ability of people to experience their landscape in a truly profound and memorable way, and the potential of ‘green jobs’ and habitat and vistas preserved in perpetuity is an eventuality worth the effort.”
LandPaths and Sam Demas share a common vision for using trekking
and huts as a way to immerse people in nature. “I’ve come to see huts as a stewardship method,” says Demas. “If you can get [people] out into nature in a way that they feel safe and supported, and they’re able to open themselves up... nature will do the work and they will be changed forever. They will begin to see themselves as part of nature.”
Here in Sonoma County, we do not yet have a public hut system, but our local trekking culture is growing. In 2009, LandPaths and the Sonoma County
Consider joining us on an upcoming trek or volunteering with the TrekSonoma program. Please visit LandPaths.org for more information.
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