RESTORATION INTENSIVE
Fire, Forests, & Animal Allies
March 27th – April 4th 2027
This Restoration Intensive is a week of hands-on learning and community building for students in the Regenerative Land Management diploam program. This will be an exciting week of hands-on experience with fire, forestry and animals in the beautiful Cazadero Hills of Sonoma County.
Going beyond theory!
This advanced hands-on permaculture course teaches
practical restoration tools and techniques.
Do you feel called as an Earth Healer? This course is for you.
There’s a quiet revolution going on in the woods, of communities banding together to take responsibility for their forests and grasslands, and create more safety and resilience in the face of climate-intensified wildfire. This eight-day intensive will immerse you in one such community, focusing on deep listening to the land, hands-on skills for land restoration, and practical tools to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
We’ll gain experience with many aspects of forest and grassland management—understanding fire ecology, assessing the forest and fire danger, thinning, pruning, limbing up and creating shaded fuel breaks, pile burns, prescribed burns (weather permitting), working with government and other local agencies, making biochar, inoculating mushrooms, and creating other value-added products from the woods.
Grazing can be one of our key tools for fire prevention and grassland regeneration when done right. In our animal care segments, we’ll have a chance to work with sheep, goats, cows, poultry and livestock guardian and herding dogs, and learn aspects of humane animal care, such as psychology, training, fencing, and herding.
COURSE FLOW
Earth Activist Training teaches permaculture—ecological design—with a grounding in spirit and a focus on organizing and activism. We have a strong commitment to social justice, equity and radical inclusion, and these values shape everything we do. Our practical skills are always taught in a context of deep listening, wonder and reverence for nature, and we include ritual, meditation and respect for the natural world as a core part of what we do.
Responding to climate change is not something we can do alone, and wildfire doesn’t stop at your property line. Community organizing is one of the key regenerative strategies. So the culmination of our time together will be a community action day that we organize, where we can share some of our new tools with the larger community and celebrate our progress toward resilience.
WHAT TO EXPECT
This workshop builds off the theory presented in the basic Permaculture Design Course and Advanced Permaculture course. The theory presented in those classes will be applied through hands on skills development and practical projects.
The practical tools are important—but to apply them in a healing way, we need both scientific knowledge and guidance from the land itself. So each day will involve time for ritual, meditation, and listening, to help us open our ears and hearts to what nature is telling us.
This Course Is For You If:
- You feel anguish or despair about the climate and the state of the environment, and want to renew your spirit while learning positive solutions and practical skills.
- You want some time outside of the city in a beautiful environment with good food, great people, and a chance to learn new skills.
- You think you’d like to live on the land—but you aren’t sure, and want to try it out for a time.
- You live on the land—or hope to some day—and want to learn skills to regenerate it and protect it from devastating wildfire.
- You’ve learned the theory and taken lots of online courses—and now you want the practical experience.
- You want to work with animals to help heal the landscape.
- You want to improve your skills at animal management.
- You want a career in caring for the environment, forestry, fire protection or a related field.
- You want a career in nature education or to incorporate more nature awareness into teaching other subjects..
- You are a climate activist who fears getting burned out—and want the tools to make a positive impact.
- You want to learn practical skills in a context that honors the spirit.
- You love nature—and want to do something about it.
WE ARE ALWAYS HERE TO HELP
Please reach out to our Student Support Team at: support@earthactivisttraining.org.
Class Schedule
Example Schedule
Saturday,
- Arrival; Introductions; Ritual; Slide Show
Sunday,
- Forestry- Tools; Thinning and Limbing; Working with Logs
Monday,
- Plant Management- Scotch Broom, Transects, Timber Cruise
Tuesday,
- Grazing and Browsing for Land Management in Forest and Field
Wednesday,
- Social Permaculture skills and team building
Thursday,
- Using Forestry Byproducts- Dead Hedges, Fencing, Biochar, Hurdles
Friday,
- Prescribed Burns; Small Animal Management
Saturday,
- Food and Pasture Management- Mushroom Propagating; Hardwood Propagating; Pasture Seeding; Pruning
Sunday,
- Evaluations; Closing Ritual: Clean Up
*Schedule is subject to change
MEET YOUR TEACHERS
Starhawk (she/her) is the co-founder and executive director of Earth Activist Training. One of the foremost voices in Earth-based spirituality, Starhawk is an author, activist, and permaculture teacher and designer. Her 12 books include such beloved reads as The Spiral Dance, The Earth Path, and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Starhawk drew from 30 years of living collectively to write The Empowerment Manual, which is the basis for her social permaculture course, Empowering Collaborative Groups.
Starhawk has been recognized by the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA) as a leading figure in permaculture and has been awarded dual diplomas for excellence in education and permaculture site design.
Best known as an articulate voice in the revival of Earth-based spirituality and Goddess religion, Starhawk is the co-founder of the Reclaiming movement, an activist branch of the modern Pagan religion. In partnership with Donna Read, Starhawk is the co-founder of Belili Productions film company, whose most well-known project was a trio of popular films on the Goddess religion.
Starhawk’s work in progressive activism has spanned generations and geographies. As a global justice and peace activist, Starhawk co-founded RANT: Root Activists’ Network of Trainers, and has taught non-violent direct action across North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. She has been on the front lines of anti-nuclear actions at Diablo Canyon, Livermore Weapons Lab, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the Nevada Test Site. She has been a witness for peace in conflict zones across the world, including Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Palestine and Israel.
As a teacher of magical activism and permaculture education, Starhawk’s life work takes her across the globe. She currently lives part-time in San Francisco in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part-time in a little hut in the woods in Cazadero, California, where she practices permaculture in her extensive gardens and writes. Her website is http://starhawk.org.
Charles Williams (he/him) is Earth Activist Training’s program director. A long-time permaculture educator and certified permaculture designer, Charles comes to Earth Activist Training through a love of the wild, faith that healthy communities can solve complex problems, and a belief that working with one’s hands is sacred work.
Over the past thirty years, he has stewarded many pieces of land, including Diana’s Grove in Missouri, Farm & Wilderness summer camp in Vermont, and Starhawk’s Golden Rabbit Ranch in California. His approach simultaneously promotes both the preservation of wild spaces and conservation of the domestic.
His deep respect for and relationship with the divine in nature informs all he does, integrating spiritual practices with land management. Charles also understands the need for healthy community and knows that skilled human implementation is an essential part of any design. In these challenging times, he finds hope for the future through the interlocking, symbiotic relationship of spirit, community, and action.
As an accomplished tinkerer, Charles brings a wide range of practical and somewhat obscure hand skills. He has installed complex systems such as solar electric arrays, gray water filters, and veggie oil diesel conversions. He has implemented simple systems such as emergency water filtration, humanure composting toilets, and rotational grazing plans. He is talented in wilderness tracking, solo canoeing, gathering and tending wild edibles, starting fire by hand, and mapping. He loves to work with his hands, whether he is tanning hides or repairing a generator, and this love is reflected when he teaches EAT’s hands-on segments.
Charles believes that no problems are unsolvable as long as we work together to develop and implement our plan effectively, and honor the holy in our work.
Delyla Wilson (she/her) engaged Grr-Parent and resilience visionary, began her journey into resilient living as an environmental, social justice, and animal rights activist. Her path includes farmstead learning and living, community street medicine, disaster preparedness, permaculture, and decades of animal management experience with a special focus on all things dogs. Delyla acquired an Earth Activism Training Permaculture Design Certificate; developed and directed the Skills for a New Millennium Tour (a three-year traveling resilience education tour), and earned a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies focused on Resilience Education for Disaster Preparedness.
Delyla’s energy is focused on resilience education both as a teacher and life-long student. Delyla seeks to weave resilience into every system throughout the web. Delyla currently is developing lines of homestead working dogs, and keeps cows, goats, chickens, and sheep for land management, soil building, carbon sequestering, and dinner.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Who is this course for?
Everyone!
We firmly believe that everyone can benefit from learning how to apply the tools and insights of permaculture toward the broad goal of earth regeneration. This course is for anyone who is looking to build practical land-based skills in earth healing. There is a place for everyone no matter your physical ability, background or cultural narrative about who can do this work.
Course Information
- Location: Sonoma County , California
- Dates: March 27th-April 4th
- Instructors: Starhawk , Charles Williams, and Delyla Wilson
- Lodging: Camping and and some indoor sleeping space available
- Catering: 3 daily meals are included in tuition. Vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, and gluten-free options provided.
Tuition
We are dedicated to making our courses as accessible as possible by offering:
- Early Bird tuition: $1200
- Sliding-scale tuition: $1500-$1650
- Four-part payment plans: $700 at registration with 4-monthly payments of $200
- Work Trade Tuition: $900 (limited spaces)
- Alumni tuition: $1000 to retake this course
- Diversity Scholarships available: See below
- Group Discounts: See below
All amounts are in US dollars. See below for more details.
- Early Bird tuition: $1200
Typical Daily Schedule
7:30-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-9:30 Morning Circle and Ritual
9:30-12:30 Morning Session
12:30-1:30 Lunch
2:00-4:30 Afternoon Session
4:30-6:30 Break
6:00-7:00 Dinner
7:30-9:00 Evening Session
QUESTIONS?
We are here for you. Please reach out at: support@earthactivisttraining.org
Funding Your Education
Payment options
Sliding Scale Tuition
- Early Bird Tuition: $1200
- Standard Tuition: $1500
- Abundant Tuition: $1650
- Every Abundant Tuition helps support a Diversity Scholarship.
Alumni Price
- Alumni Tuition $1000
- For those who want a refresher, you need to have taken this course with us before.
*all amounts in US dolars
PAYMENT PLAN
- Payment of $700 when you register.
- Four monthly installments of $200 ($1500 total).
- Our Student Support Team will assist you in setting this up.
GROUP DISCOUNTS
- Groups of 2-5 people – Discount of $200 off each ($1300 for each person)
- Organizations of 6+ people – contact support@eat-activist.org for special group rates
- Must indicate who is in your group at registration.
Work Trade
A limited number of work trade spaces are available. Work trade students pay a reduced tuition of $900 and contribute around 24 hours of work, and are involved in a range of tasks before, during, and after the course.
Work trade students are generally expected to come 2-3 days early for the course. The work involves preparing materials and project sites for the course. Work trade students are also expected to work during the course. This may include help in the kitchen, cleaning, organizing tools and materials for class, or other activities.
Diversity Scholarships
DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS
- Earth Activist Training is committed to increasing the diversity of global permaculture and regenerative land movements.
- We recognize the history of this land called the United States and Canada, and seek to do what we can to rectify the deep injustices and systems of inequity that formed and continue to shape society today.
- Diversity Scholarships are available for Indigenous Peoples and People of Color working in or wanting to work in environmental or social justice.
- Diversity Scholarships are pay-what-you-can. We urge people to pay half the standard price ($750). We try to give scholarships to as many people as possible, and any little bit you can contribute will allow us to give scholarships to more people.
- To apply, select “Diversity Scholarship” in the payment section of the registration form below.
- Earth Activist Training’s Diversity Scholarship fund is supported by donations. Visit our Diversity Fund page if you wish to support our Scholarship program.
If you have any questions, we are always here to help: support@earthactivisttraining.org
REGISTER
This class is closed for the year.
Click below to join the Notification List to get an email when registration reopens.
What Comes Next?
Are you ready for the next step of your learning journey?
Regenerative Land Management (RLM) is a multi-year advanced permaculture diploma program designed to further your permaculture practice and provide a deep comprehensive training that will enable you to apply regenerative skills in your life!
Click here to learn more!
Go beyond a basic PDC with our Advanced Permaculture course. This year-long course, taught in four modules, covers key design topics:
OUR NETWORK
A core component of this course – and every Earth Activist Training course – is our private forum: Earth Activist Training Online network. This platform is where you will find course resources, your homework, and a network to connect with classmates and other Earth Activist students.
Recordings of each class will be available to you as a resource. You will have access to the course for a year after the course ends should you want to deepen your understanding of the material.
Have a question?
calendar
Check out the full schedule to find out when our programs and events are taking place.
Join our announcement list
Want to be notified of EAT course updates and new program information? Sign up to join our list.