Experimental Land Stewardship Project

“When the project began, I had lots of big ideas about what big things would happen in various parts of the land. Working with Heather and her team, I began to understand that holding these big ideas without first taking the time to really get to know the land was incompatible with my intention to honor this magnificent place through conservation, restoration, and regenerative projects. I still hope that this will one day be a place to bring people together to live, work, heal, learn, and pay sacred tribute to the deceased while healing the land.

Without Cohabitats, there is no chance that the vision could be created without betraying our ethics. The detailed reports and plans Cohabitats created helped us map out appropriate land use, provided guidance on land and wildlife stewardship, gave us the foundation for building a relationship of trust with the land, the plants, and the animals that live here, and opened significant doors $400,000+ of grant funding for ecological stewardship projects!”

Elliot Rasenick, founder of GSH Works, Remember Land, & the Beloved Festival 

Cohabitats Services

Project Story

The client initiated a bold dream of creating an eco-village with sustainable agriculture and forestry, and education center. It would be a place that would invigorate innovative ideas and ways of living. Through the new partnership with Recompose, Remember Land will also be a place that provides ecologically responsible death-care, honoring the dead and returning bodies to the earth as nourishing soil for forest restoration, healing the degraded recovering clear cuts and growing the next generation of forest. The human habitat on the land will be expanded with a mission to do it sustainably with care for the land and its existing wild inhabitants. Remember Land will conserve and restore the majority of the land.

Cohabitats was hired to conduct an initial wildlife reconnaissance when the client was considering the purchase. The conservation value of the land was a high priority for the client and one of the main considerations for funding the purchase. The initial study revealed a high conservation value due to the size of the property, connectivity to forestry properties, diversity of habitat types, species, and wetlands. The purchase included 20 adjacent parcels making up a total of 673 acres which included three residential dwellings.

After the purchase, Cohabitats launched a four-season site assessment to capture as much information from the land as possible. The study included data on habitat types, health, priority habitats and species, documentation of wildlife and plant species, data on soils, and wetlands. Each area of land (habitat zone) provided a description, dominant species, and recommendations for human use and/or stewardship. Cohabitats also provided a comprehensive forest stewardship plan and wildlife stewardship guidelines for current and future residents.

The reports Cohabitats provided assisted the client with initial site planning, conservation and restoration recommendations, as well as obtaining significant grants for large stewardship projects such as a prominent fish passage culvert replacement. 

The project was approached from a truly holistic perspective—knowing and honoring the land, its historical relationship with indigenous people, and cultivating a future of stewardship and climate resilience.

Deliverables: Seasonal Site Assessment Reports, Final Ecological Site Assessment, Forest Stewardship Plan, Wildlife Stewardship Plan