BLACK OREGON LAND TRUST
Seeding sovereignty for Oregon’s Black agricultural communities
We believe that land-based communities in relationship with their environments will protect our future.
We know that Black farmers exist, and can thrive — including here in Oregon.
We orient to the truth that when mothers and children are cared for, whole communities thrive.
BOLT is dedicated to ensuring that Black communities in Oregon have secure and affordable land access, sustainable agricultural skills, and the protected ecosystems needed to grow economically, environmentally, and culturally thriving communities.
Black Women and Mothers, at the Center.
At Black Oregon Land Trust, we are changing the narrative of what a farming family looks like, by centering mothers and youth in our programs and services. In the words of midwife Rachelle Garcia Seliga, “If you want to know the health of a community, look to its mothers.” In our approach to create a thriving Black agricultural ecosystem in Oregon, we center the needs and skill-building of mothers and children, knowing that when they thrive, communities thrive.
What is a Land Trust?
A land trust is an organization which acquires land to meet community needs through conservation, farming, and housing. A land trust sees land as a public good, rather than something to be privately owned. There different types of land trusts, namely conservation trusts and community trusts. BOLT is a community land trust focused on providing agricultural land to Black farmers and land stewards. Through BOLT, we are centering the importance of land access and security, while shifting the language of privately "owning" land, to collective land stewardship, with responsibility and accountability to community and the earth.
Many Hands Make Light Work
Join the waitlist for fall/winter volunteers and be the first to know about in-person opportunities to support our work!
