Land Remediation

The land remediation work at Forge Project is intended to create a balanced plant environment that supports and is supported by the surrounding inhabitants—human and nonhuman alike.

People working in a meadow with hand tools with trees in the background and an early autumn sky
Volunteers removing introduced species that negatively impact plants with long relation to the area or reseeding areas that have already been cleared for remediation. Photo by Alekz Pacheco.

The land remediation work started in 2022 with a meadow that invites plant species to support the web of wildlife native to this area, return native seeds to Forge as the basis for the regeneration of Indigenous knowledge and plant-based practices, and foster plants as a means of generating increased Indigenous presence in the region.

Along with the meadow, Forge is working to foster and design outdoor spaces that support its mission and operations as well as creating learning and teaching environments as opportunities for sharing knowledge about Indigenous cultures, languages, histories, and futures.

The overall goal of the remediation plan is to serve as a model for rematriation and Land Back by, among other tactics, embedding current and new architectural structures in rather than on the land, countering the tradition of the "manse on the hill" that is prevalent in the region, and educating how the eradication of the American Lawn is part of the process of decolonization; i.e., replace mown lawn grass with short-growth native species.