Wildlands

The Place

The 70-acre Wildlands Preserve serves as OAEC’s living learnscape for stewardship and wildtending methods that integrate traditional ecological knowledge with modern science.

Over the past twenty years, staff and volunteers have been steadily working to help the land restore itself to exhibit the healthy, self-willed ecological processes it had before European settlement brought clear cuts and invasive exotic plants just 130 years ago.

The Program

We provide education about restoration theory and methods, integrating traditional ecological knowledge with modern science.

Our goal is to become better practitioners of cultural and biological regeneration. Through demonstration, research and education, the OAEC Wildlands Restoration Program promotes wildlands ecoliteracy and helps to restore awareness that humans must be an integral, interconnected and regenerative component of natural systems, both locally and at the larger landscape scale.

Wildlands News

NBC news – Intersection of Fire & Water at OAEC

“It’s time to take our fire fears and connect that with our water woes!” – Brock Dolman As we thin and limb our forests and landscapes towards fire fuels reduction, … Read more

Community grazing project at OAEC, Two Sisters Place & Mighty Arrow Ranch

This past spring, OAEC and the Sowing Circle community were thrilled to graze a flock of 54 sheep and 12 goats across nearly 10 acres of coastal prairie and meadow … Read more

Join the Good Fire Crew

  *photos by TERA   Apply Now!

Beyond Defensible Space – Consultations Webinar

OAEC Wildlands and our partners are hosting a Zoom webinar on July 27th from 6-8pm PST to wrap up our “Beyond Defensible Space” workshop series, an exploration of wildfire mitigation strategies that … Read more

Beyond Defensible Space Workshops

We’ve heard about Defensible Space, the 100ft perimeter around buildings that should be free from burnable materials to prevent damage from wildfire, but what about the wildlands beyond those 100ft? … Read more

Wildlands Staff

Brock Dolman

Brock Dolman

Co-Founder; Program Director

Jim taking photos

Jim Coleman

Ecologist; Photographer