MILLFIELD, Ohio — A small nonprofit focused on sustainable forestry education is poised to expand through apprenticeships cultivating sustainable, forest-based local businesses.
Through Rising Appalachia’s six-month program, 20 apprentices — primarily recruited from Dover Township and other coal-impacted communities — will work with mentors to develop businesses. Executive director Weston Lombard hopes that by the end of the program, apprentices will operate businesses sustained by sales.
This will involve bringing many existing projects at Rising Appalachia’s Solid Ground Farm to scale. Lombard said he envisions apprenticeships focused on forest management consultation, edible landscaping and gourmet mushroom farming, among other areas.
“This gives me a chance to sort of test out this theory of, you know, can we really productively and sustainably manage our forests?” Lombard said. “We’re thinking that by blending education, recreation and production, forest owners could make a living from their woodlots for other ways than clear-cutting or leasing to fracking companies.”
Apprenticeships will include direct business mentorship as well as classes in areas such as business planning writing, forests and ecology.
Some educational apprenticeship projects will offer a wider benefit to Dover Township communities. For instance, Lombard envisions the edible landscaping apprenticeship involving installations at public libraries and parks.
The program will be possible thanks to a roughly $317,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture. The grant is one of nearly 400 projects that received a total of $1.5 billion from the USDA to support trees and community green spaces throughout the country. The funding was provided through the Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program and funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Through these grants, we are supporting local partners and organizations doing critical work that directly impacts and improves our lives,” said Gina Owens, eastern regional forester with the Forest Service.
For Rising Appalachia, the investment is unprecedented. In 2021, the last year for which its financials are publicly available, the nonprofit brought in just over $90,000 in revenue. Its existing work includes a variety of youth RAW camps at the Solid Ground Farm emphasizing ecology, survival skills, leadership and more.
The farm also serves as a land lab for Hocking College’s School of Natural Resources and hosts the Solid Ground School, a place-based progressive preschool and elementary school that Lombard described as a sister nonprofit to Rising Appalachia.
Lombard said the grant funding will enhance existing programming at the Solid Ground Farm.
“One of the goals of the project is to more fully develop the farm so that its educational value is realized. More projects gives us greater opportunity to engage the kids,” Lombard said. “And whether that’s just seeing the projects or actively being involved in classes, I’m not entirely sure, but likely we’ll integrate it into our programming and try to get the kids involved as much as possible.”
He added, “It’s kind of inescapable. The school has 48 kids, and they’re out here all day, every day, and then in the summer, there’s 40 kids at the camp every day — so they will be an intimate part of the projects.”
Thanks to the grant, Rising Appalachia will be able to bring on its first full time staff member in Lombard. The funds will also pay for a part-time administrative assistant and compensate all apprentices and mentors.
“It will really propel us to a new level,” he said.
The apprenticeship program will launch in March. Lombard said those interested in participating should contact him at westonlombard@gmail.com.
