Previous Themes, Speakers, and Discussion

2nd Annual


Theme: “Creating Diversity, Equity, AND Inclusion in Rewilding”

Rewilding is inherently about social and environmental justice. Rewilding covers many subject areas, with lots of room for people to find a place within, yet each of those areas contains barriers for many people. These barriers can take many forms: finance, racism, sexism, cultural bias, and more. We will come together this year to discuss these barriers, and how individuals and organizations are working to dismantle them to make rewilding more accessible for all. Meet like-minded folks from many walks of life, and brainstorm ways to help one another deepen our relationships and actions toward rewilding. The goal for this conference is to create more access to rewilding for more people by creating a network of folks who identify the many barriers to rewilding and work toward dismantling them together.



Keynote: David G. Lewis

David G. Lewis is a Member of the Grand Ronde Tribe, a descendant of the Santiam, Chinook, and Takelma peoples of western Oregon. He has a PhD in Anthropology and teaches at Oregon State University. David regularly conducts research on tribal peoples of Oregon and specializes in western Oregon and the ethnohistoric environments and changes of the tribes in the last two centuries. He publishes extensively on the blog site

Open Space Summary

1st Annual Conference


Theme: “Restoration to what?”

We talk a lot about “restoration,” but what are we trying to restore to? A certain time in history? A specific ecotone from a specific era? A diet from a specific time and bioregion? If the world has changed due to extinctions, introduction of invasive species, and climate change, what then do we mean by restoration? What does it look like? What exactly are we restoring, and what are our actual goals? Do we have commons goals to work toward together? If so, how can we encourage each other's efforts? This theme was inspired by the advanced permaculture course Social Forestry offered by Hazel (Tom Ward) at Siskiyou Permaculture.