Turtle Oak Land
To meet our goals to co-create a safe, secluded, learning environment where we can find connections, celebration and beauty for our CO.MUNITY programs and partner organizations, we are seeking land which has the following characteristics:

1. Accessible with well maintained roads;

2. Private, secluded land with mix of deciduous and evergreen trees with a south facing slope (to access solar power and passive solar) with running water (4 season stream, brook, river) and potable water for drinking;

3. Open space or easily cleared space or fields for community use Straw Bale building, Yurts, tenting, playing, solar access and beautiful views AND space to build an Adventure Ropes course, sweat lodge with water nearby, space for dance etc.



Our short-term goal is to find funding to lease this land or receive conservation easement donation of land for land trust.

Our long-term goal is to purchase land to be used as the primary CO.MUNITY space with other usage to support and maintain this land, like a wilderness education space, retreat space, renewable energy demonstration / education space.
Though it would seem that using a local kid’s camp facility would be logical, it serves our needs better to have a dedicated program space to:

•Create a sense of mystery and adventure,
•Make the events and community place meaningful and different thus marking it as a significant “initiation” and transition,
•Be secluded from the everyday interruptions that we usually ignore but which will take us out of our focused intention,
•Give us freedom to control the environment so we can make spaces and infrastructure to serve our greatest needs and those of the youth we serve,
•Have access to spaces that are suitable for our programs all year, including peak season when other local summer camp facilities are often unavailable to us.
Here is more detailed visioning for the land:

• In Vermont close to Brattleboro,
• Land with basic infrastructure, 10 acres for program use and 80 - 100 for wilderness education:
• Potable water gravity fed from source to point of use (for example a spring box, artesian well, or easily accessible spring on hillside),
• Secluded land with 360 degrees privacy,
• Accessible to well-maintained 4 season roads with logging roads or paths on land that are not in continuous use by dog walkers, hikers, snowmobiles etc. so that we can maintain the sacred space necessary for such in-depth and significant process,
• 4 season running streams/river/brook/pond large enough to play & "swim" in that has 300 feet of head from point of origin on property to where it passes within 50 feet of optimal point of use,
• Combination open fields/clearings with diverse forest (a balance of deciduous and evergreen trees),
• Flat open areas for siting and play,
• Contoured land and view of mountains for beauty,
• Gentle south-facing slope for solar gain and gardens,
• Rich fertile soil and accessible rocks ideal for building structural foundations and works of art,
• Easy parking possibilities,
• Open-minded, friendly, respectful, supportive, generous and cooperative neighbors or land owners,
• For this long term plan / use: 7200 sq. feet straw-bale timber frame construction four-season community center building with composting toilets, overnight accommodations, activity spaces including a large dance hall and spaces for well-being, office, shop, art studio, library, meeting etc... Also, additional sleeping structures & yurts for participants & staff, dwelling for caretaker (who is skilled at solar and other maintenance or who will pay into a fund to support such maintenance), outdoor pavilion space for dancing and activities, Adventure Ropes course.
• Solar powered electricity, solar heated water system, hydro-powered electricity, cistern, other alternative eco-conscious life-enhancing technologies;
• Easy cell phone access and internet availability.

We are in the process of seeking land-owners who have the vision and interest in donating, making land use accessible or working with us toward the purchase of a piece of land like this.

We are willing to maintain a managed conservation land trust so they can retain their owner’s rights and keep land in conservation from developed use. All of the yurt spaces proposed and other spaces will be sited and built using permaculture design and will make a low impact on the land due to the intermittent use by groups and the guidelines outlined by the land trust agreement.
We would gratefully receive land donations or a land contract which gives the CO.MUNITY Project and partners the land use for at least 3 years with a possible option to buy at the end of that time. We presently seek financial and land donors and have applied and continue to apply for grants to support this land acquisition as well as the infrastructure, structures and sustainable maintenance.

Cost analysis and permaculture design to follow which will cover how much buildings, infrastructure, preparation / maintenance of land and construction and how to sustain it. The acquiring of the land will be looked at separately and hopefully obtained with funding at a low cost due to contractual agreement to make no / low impact on the land and keep it in conservation for education and community purposes. Vermont Land Trust may be of assistance to facilitate this process.