Rewilding the River Edge
The Tree of Life Guild envisions transforming the historic property at 181 Huguenot Street in New Paltz into a living classroom for regenerative farming, rewilding practices, and community health. Situated along the Wallkill River, protected under an easement of the Wallkill Valley Land Trust and neighboring the Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary, this site is uniquely positioned as a community hub for practicing and sharing restorative ecological relationships.
Our work includes re-introducing and protecting at-risk and endangered medicinal plants, re-establishing diverse native habitats, and rewilding the river edge to enhance riparian ecosystems and improve watershed health. Through these efforts, we are protecting vital plant lineages, supporting pollinators and wildlife, and offering the community a tangible model of land stewardship and ecological repair.
Alongside rewilded zones, we are planning a teaching farm with herbal gardens, an apiary and ethical small-scale animal husbandry.
These farming initiatives will demonstrate how land-based livelihoods can be both ecologically regenerative and economically viable, growing food and medicine in ways that enhance biodiversity rather than diminish it. As a community learning hub, the farm will host workshops and programs in regenerative agriculture, herbalism, animal care, and watershed stewardship for local residents, students, educators, and practitioners across the Hudson Valley. Tree of Life Guild is creating a place-based, intergenerational model of resilience where health, ecology, and economy are woven together in reciprocity rather than extraction.
