Anything you need to know about Turtle Island

Eustace Conway

Eustace with visitors

Speaking Engagements and Public Appearances

Public speaking engagements with Eustace can be made by appointment. Please leave a voicemail at the Turtle Island office (828) 265-2267 with a phone number and available time to reach you. You can also request Eustace's e-brochure by sending an email to



Eustace portrait Bio

Eustace Conway is a unique naturalist. He celebrates the freedom of individuality in all aspects of life. He is a spokesperson for the Earth, giving voice to the natural environment he loves. The renowned wildlife artist, Sallie Middleton, told him on his thirtieth birthday, "You are the most interesting man I have ever met." Perhaps this is because Eustace has lived the life he has imagined...followed his dreams. Like Thoreau, Eustace has gone to the woods to live deliberately, fronting only the essential facts of life, to see if he could not learn what it had to teach, and not when he came to die discover that he had not lived. He has lived in the woods for over 35 years. He learns by visiting extremes; once when Eustace severely cut his thumb, he sewed it back together with twelve stitches, and used plant medicine.

Frequently Asked Questions

"Why is it called Turtle Island?"

Our camp is named after the legend shared by countless American Indian Nations - that a great turtle rose up out of the waters after earth was flooded and made the decision to support life's creatures on its back. American Indians call the earth "turtle island" and so we call our tract of land "Turtle Island Preserve" for we are an earth preserve. In the figurative sense, we are an island of wilderness in a sea of over-development and destruction.