Check out this video focusing on our programs and our community outdoor school through four seasons across the past year. Many thanks to Jason Van Bruggen of Asymetric for such a beautiful piece of work. And possibly the best part… the song we’re singing around the fire… called “light it up” comes from a group of teens at the Vermont Art of Mentoring Course. Written with Evan McGown, co-author of the Coyote’s Guide, check out the story from Jon Young (also co-author of the Coyote’s Guide) ... Read More

Oh wow, nature just went wild! That sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? Anyhow, it did. Get this: In our day of programming on Tuesday in the Humber Valley, we saw a Coyote, multiple deer sightings, found mourning dove AND robin nests, saw egrets, ducks, geese, a pair of red tailed hawks, a coopers hawk and a sharp shinned hawk, rainbow trout spawning, found dead sucker fish from their spawning run, and so much more… feeling super thankful for Spring, and for wild places in the city. Thanks for all the adventures and showing off ... Read More

If you’re coming to the Nature, culture, and building community resilience talks from April 14-17, 2011, you might enjoy engaging in some of the material I will be covering in advance. These exercises were offered last year at this time as well, but are a great reminder of simple ways to connect with nature, to slow down, and to connect with your senses around your home area. Even if you’re not coming, check this out and see how you like it! Tell your friends about it. If you don’t have time, you might just want ... Read More

Mark Morey Mark is a creative artist, visionary educator, cultural engineer, and consultant who designs regenerative holistic communities with timeless native principles. He is the founder of three transformational organizations: Deep Wilds, Vermont Wilderness School, and The Institute for Natural Learning, sparking a nature and community awareness movement in the Northeast impacting 5,000 adults and children today. He has facilitated wilderness survival and spiritual passages for teens and adults since 1997, including over 35 ... Read More

Welcome! Like with so many things in nature, job opportunities at the p.i.n.e. project show seasonal abundance! Summer is camp season, and we need staff and volunteers! Lots of em! During the year, we have more volunteer opportunities, which are amazing ways to join the p.i.n.e. community, learn about what we do and how we do it, share your gifts with kids in the outdoors, and maybe pick up a few new skills along the way. Please email inquiries to info@pineproject.org with an introduction, cover letter and resume. We have two last minute job ... Read More

Wow… that took two days longer than expected! Sorry! In any event, we’ve made some decsions, and will be awarding our winner, but we wish we could award more! Next time we’ll have a few more prizes as wonderful folks at Patagonia, amongst others, have offered some great gear as prizes. So… without any further delay… Grand Prize goes to: Todd Lamont and the students of Ashbury College in Ottawa. We loved the many ages and cultural backgrounds that came together to make one serious fort, with surrounding wall. The ... Read More

After extending our deadline to the end of the weekend for submissions, these are what we’ve had. Sorry for being late, but this post took way longer than I had thought, with all the pics and such! Anyhow, please post comments below about which forts you think deserve merit for what. We’re now trying to decide which fort to award prizes for. In any case, we’ve learned a lot about snow fort competitions… one is that everyone gets outside and has fun, and two is that we need more prizes! Patagonia has offered some gear ... Read More

After extending our deadline to the end of the weekend for submissions, we got a handful to post and set the bar. Some great ones, with some funny stories told! More to come… this is going to be a tough decision! Veronica, Sasha and friends (with mild supervisory role from mom, Carol) Snowdayfort Feb 2, 2011 Started gathering snow in our front yard at 7:50am before knowing it was an official “Snow Day”. Kids screamed in delight when we found out just as we were about to walk to school.  Three more children joined Sasha and ... Read More

Win a free adult class, or a free week of day camp for a child! Go to the blog to see current entries! Hey All, Here in Toronto it’s snowing pretty hard. Has been for a while. Everyone is talking about it and as my friend Marcus just posted on facebook: “Dear Toronto, here is an update for you: There is a difference between snow and news. That is all.” I agree… so let’s make it newsworthy! We make a profession of getting people outside. It’s what we’re passionate about. And building forts is just ... Read More

After an action-packed day of volunteer training in High Park two weekends ago (check out the blog entry on the Hawk!), each participant agreed to look up the answer to a question that had arisen during the day. The question I wanted to look up was: What have been the historical interactions between Grey, Black and Red Squirrels in the Toronto area? I’m glad I looked it up, because there are at least two wrong assumptions just in the way I phrased it! First of all, black and grey Squirrels are the same species: Eastern Grey Squirrel. (I ... Read More