Restoration & Conservation

Restoring the Land

Our journey of restoration began with reclaiming the land from former development and wildfire damage. The acquisition of a neighboring property, a former RV park, not only expanded Great River’s size and beauty, but also initiated extensive restoration work. We are working to remove concrete, roadways, and remnants of infrastructure, like electric and water, allowing nature to reclaim its rightful place.

Shortly after purchasing the additional property, a human caused wildfire roared up Dry Creek Canyon in the summer of 2020. Burning across almost all of the Great River property, it destroyed most of the buildings from the defunct RV park, some of which were being restored for use by the burial ground and the outdoor learning center, along with 80 acres of forest.

The cleanup work from this catastrophic event has been extensive and is still underway. This restoration work includes removing debris from the destroyed buildings and infrastructure as well as clearing vast amounts of brush from downed trees to reduce the fuel load on the ground. Burned trees which were dangerous to visitors were removed, and other sections of the forest have been left to heal naturally from the fire. Trunks and large branches from trees that died in the fire have been left on the ground to rot and provide nutrients for a future forest.

Much of the timber salvaged from wildfire, as well as from disease, is milled on site, repurposed for various sustainable projects like caskets, log headstones, benches, picnic tables, and also set aside to be used to rebuild burned restroom facilities and a future life celebration center for the burial ground.