LandPaths or Land Partners through stewardship is an organization formed in 1996 to foster a love of the land in Sonoma County, California. The organization owns open space preserves throughout Sonoma County, and encourages outdoor experiences where people can learn to understand and appreciate natural environments. [1]
LandPaths' public outings visit and enjoy the open spaces, farms and parks-in-development that have been protected by Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. [3] The LandPaths outdoor day camp provides Santa Rosa elementary school students the opportunity to engage in nature walks, hikes, journaling, and observations of natural processes, plant life, and animal life in local open spaces. [4] LandPaths' Owl Camp host hundreds of children aged 6 to 13 each summer at Rancho Mark West. Older children are encouraged to participate in kayaking and backpacking Treks for Teens. Teenagers are encouraged to become stewards of the land removing invasive plants, repairing trails, helping to reduce fire risks, planting oaks, and cleaning up creeks. [5]
Sonoma County is located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino County. It is west of Napa and Lake Counties.
Cotati is an incorporated city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately 45 mi (70 km) north of San Francisco in the 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma. Cotati's population as of the 2020 Census was 7,584, making it the smallest incorporated community in Sonoma County.
Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,254.
Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and Redwood Coast. It is the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont; and the 25th-most populous city in California.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in the greater Los Angeles region, with two thirds of the parklands in northwest Los Angeles County, and the remaining third, including a Simi Hills extension, in southeastern Ventura County.
The Fairfield Osborn Preserve is a 450-acre nature reserve situated on the northwest flank of Sonoma Mountain in Sonoma County, California. There are eight plant communities within the property, oak woodland being the dominant type. Other communities include chaparral, Douglas fir woodland, native Bunch grass, freshwater marsh, vernal pool, pond and riparian woodland. The flora is extremely diverse including many native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses, lichens and mosses. A diverse fauna inhabits this area including black-tailed deer, coyote, bobcat and an occasional mountain lion; moreover, there are abundant avifauna, amphibians, reptiles and insects.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa is a 22-mile-long (35 km) wetland complex that drains a 254-square-mile (660 km2) watershed encompassing most of the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County, California, United States.
Taylor Mountain is a summit at the northern extreme of the Sonoma Mountains in California. The mountain lies in the Laguna de Santa Rosa drainage basin; its east flank drains to Matanzas Creek, a northwestward flowing stream running the length of Bennett Valley, and its west flank drains to Five Creek. The mountain is named after California Gold Rush pioneer John Shackleford Taylor, who settled on the mountain slopes in 1853 to raise dairy cows and plant a vineyard.
Spring Lake Regional Park is a 320-acre (130 ha) public park in southeastern Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, United States. Centered on the Santa Rosa Creek Reservoir, the park is administered by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department. Its coordinates are 38.45°N 122.65°W, and its official address is 391 Violetti Drive.
Rancho Sotoyome was a 48,837-acre (197.64 km2) Mexican land grant given to Henry D. Fitch. Sotoyome or "Satiyomes" was the name of a Wappo tribe. The grant, in present-day Sonoma County, California, extended along the Russian River encompassing the Alexander Valley and present-day Healdsburg.
Rancho Cabeza de Santa Rosa was an 8,885-acre (35.96 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1841 by Governor pro tem Manuel Jimeno to María Ygnacia López. The grant was along Santa Rosa Creek, and encompassed present-day Santa Rosa, California.
Rancho Tzabaco was a 15,439-acre (62.48 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José German Piña. The grant extended along Dry Creek, a tributary of the Russian River, north west of present-day Healdsburg and encompassed present-day Geyserville and the Dry Creek Valley AVA. The grant was immediately north of Henry D. Fitch's Rancho Sotoyome.
Rancho Los Guilicos was a 18,834-acre (76.22 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to John (Juan) Wilson. The grant extended along Sonoma Creek, south of Santa Rosa from Santa Rosa Creek south to almost Glen Ellen, and encompassed present day Oakmont, Kenwood and Annadel State Park.
Sonoma Water, formerly known as the Sonoma County Water Agency, maintains a water transmission system that provides naturally filtered Russian River water to more than 600,000 residents in portions of Sonoma County, California and Marin County, California. The Water Agency is a water wholesaler that sells potable water to nine cities and special districts that in turn sell drinking water to their residents. These cities and special districts are: the City of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Sonoma, the Town of Windsor, Valley of the Moon Water District, Marin Municipal Water District, and North Marin Water District.
The Marin Municipal Water District is the government agency that provides drinking water to southern and central Marin County, California. Chartered in 1912, it became California's first municipal water district. It serves 191,000 customers in a 147-square-mile (380 km2) area that includes ten towns and cities.
The Sonoma County Library is a medium-sized public library system that serves the nine cities and unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, California. The library system is a joint powers authority, with administration located at the Administrative Offices, 6135 State Farm Dr, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.
Pepperwood Preserve is a 3,117-acre plot of land owned by the Pepperwood Foundation, located in the Mayacamas Mountains in the coast ranges of California near the towns of Santa Rosa and Healdsburg in Sonoma County. The preserve includes the headwaters of Mark West Creek, Franz Creek, and Brooks Creek all of which feed into the Russian River. The highest point on the preserve is 1,560 feet.
Doña María Ygnacia López de Carrillo was a Californio ranchera. She was the founder of Santa Rosa. She married into the prominent Carrillo family of California and was the ancestor of numerous prominent Californians.
Ocean Song is a ridge-top preserve overlooking the Pacific coast in western Sonoma County, California. The preserve encompasses approximately 800 acres (320 ha) of grasslands with mixed oak woodlands. Since acquiring the property in 2019, LandPaths has been cleaning up old buildings and restoring the environment for native species. LandPaths intends to restore Ocean Song's use for nature-based education, but the preserve was not open to public access by 2023.