Our Model
Regenerative agriculture that heals land, feeds communities, and builds ecosystems that thrive for generations.
At Dive Into Nature, we don't just preserve land—we actively restore it. Our approach is rooted in time-tested principles that work with natural systems rather than fighting against them. The result? Land that gets healthier every year, ecosystems that support themselves, and food that nourishes rather than depletes.
How We Work
We pursue our mission through two complementary approaches—both using the same regenerative principles, but funded and structured differently to maximize impact.
🏡 Community Sanctuaries
"Save this land forever"
- DIN acquires and owns the property
- Permanent protection from development
- Funded by community donations and major gifts
- Focus on urban/suburban green spaces under threat
- Free public access for community members
- Generational timeline (100+ years)
🌾 Regenerative Operations
"Restore this land now"
- DIN leases land through long-term agreements
- Active demonstration of regenerative practices
- Funded by grants, corporate sponsors, and food revenue
- Training site for regenerative agriculture
- Educational programs and eco-tourism
- Lease term timeline (10-30 years)
Both approaches use the same regenerative principles: rotational grazing, perennial food systems, soil restoration, water harvesting, and community access.
Stacking Functions: Every Element Serves Multiple Purposes
In nature, nothing exists in isolation. A tree doesn't just provide shade—it also builds soil, sequesters carbon, provides wildlife habitat, produces food, and cycles water. Our model mimics this principle by designing systems where every element serves multiple functions.
Perennial Food Systems
Instead of annual crops that require replanting each year, we invest in perennial systems that produce food for decades—even centuries:
Nut Trees
Chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts — productive for 100+ years once established
15-25 years to matureFruit Orchards
Apples, pears, stone fruits with 50+ year productive lifespans
6-8 years to full productionBerry Systems
Elderberries, blackberries, blueberries — fast establishing
3-5 years to establishPerennial Vegetables
Asparagus, rhubarb, and more that return year after year
Harvests annuallyThese perennial systems sequester massive amounts of carbon, build soil continuously, and provide habitat—all while producing food that no for-profit operation would wait 20 years to harvest.
Managed Rotational Grazing: Mimicking Nature's Herds
Before modern agriculture, vast herds of ruminants moved across landscapes—grazing intensively, fertilizing heavily, then moving on. Predators kept them bunched together and constantly moving. This pattern built the deep, rich soils that made American prairies the breadbasket of the world.
Our managed grazing mimics this natural pattern:
The Multi-Species Rotation
Large Ruminants First
Cattle, bison, or longhorns graze the tall grass, trampling some into the soil as organic matter. Their hooves break up compacted soil. Their manure inoculates the ground with biology.
Small Ruminants Follow
Goats and sheep come through next, eating different plants at different heights. They target woody brush and weeds that cattle avoided. Different manure, different biology added.
Poultry Finish
Chickens, turkeys, and ducks scratch through the manure, spreading it evenly. They eat fly larvae and parasites, breaking pest cycles. They add their own nitrogen-rich fertilizer.
After this rotation, the paddock rests—sometimes 60, 90, even 120 days. Grass recovers fully, roots grow deeper, soil biology explodes with life. By the time animals return, the land is more productive than before.
Why We Stock Lighter
Commercial operations maximize animal units per acre to maximize revenue. We deliberately stock at lower rates—often half of conventional—because we're optimizing for land health, not quarterly returns. This is the nonprofit advantage: we can do what's right for the land, even when it means less production.
Common Concerns: What About...?
When people hear "livestock" and "suburban community" in the same sentence, they often imagine the worst. Here's the reality of regenerative grazing versus the feedlot operations most people picture.
Odor / Smell
Flies & Pests
Noise
Property Values
The key difference: stocking rate and management intensity. We run fewer animals than conventional operations and move them more frequently. The land can easily absorb what the animals produce—no accumulation, no smell, no problems.
Soil: The Foundation of Everything
Healthy soil isn't dirt—it's a living ecosystem. A single teaspoon of healthy soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on Earth. These bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes form a complex web that makes nutrients available to plants, builds soil structure, and sequesters carbon.
Never Tilling
Tillage destroys fungal networks that took years to build. We keep living roots in the ground year-round.
Cover Cropping
Diverse plant mixes feed soil biology and prevent erosion. Different root depths access different nutrients.
Compost Applications
High-quality compost introduces billions of beneficial organisms, jumpstarting soil recovery.
No Synthetic Inputs
Chemical fertilizers bypass soil biology, making it weaker over time. We feed the soil, which feeds the plants.
Water Harvesting: Every Drop Counts
In Utah and Idaho, water is everything. Conventional landscapes shed water—impermeable surfaces, compacted soil, and shallow-rooted plants send rainfall rushing off to storm drains. Our regenerative systems do the opposite: we slow water down, spread it out, and let it soak in.
- Swales and berms capture runoff and give it time to infiltrate, recharging underground aquifers.
- Deep-rooted perennials create channels for water to move deep into the soil profile.
- Healthy soil acts like a sponge—increasing organic matter from 1% to 5% can increase water-holding capacity by 20,000 gallons per acre.
- Ponds and wetlands provide habitat, moderate temperature extremes, and store water for dry periods.
Silvopasture: Trees + Grazing Together
Conventional thinking separates forestry from agriculture. Our model integrates them. Silvopasture—grazing animals among managed trees—creates benefits neither system achieves alone:
- Animal welfare — Shade reduces heat stress, improving animal health and weight gain.
- Carbon sequestration — Trees store carbon above and below ground while grass continues building soil.
- Diversified production — Nuts, fruits, and timber alongside meat and eggs.
- Wildlife corridors — Connected tree systems allow wildlife to move through agricultural landscapes.
Why This Only Works as a Nonprofit
This model requires patience that commercial operations can't afford. No investor will wait 20 years for chestnut trees to mature. No bank will finance a grazing operation at half the typical stocking rate. No quarterly report will celebrate soil organic matter increasing by 0.5%.
As a nonprofit, we can:
- Plant trees our grandchildren will harvest
- Stock lighter because land health matters more than maximum yield
- Invest in soil biology that takes a decade to fully develop
- Make decisions based on ecological outcomes, not investor returns
- Keep land in restoration permanently, protected from future sale to developers
- Access grant funding unavailable to for-profit operations
The Result: Land That Heals
Properties under our management get better every year. Soil deepens. Water infiltration increases. Biodiversity expands. Carbon is pulled from the atmosphere and stored in wood and soil.
And communities gain permanent sanctuaries—places where families can reconnect with where food comes from, where children can see livestock and orchards and ponds teeming with life.
This is regenerative agriculture—not just sustainable (maintaining what we have) but actively regenerating what was lost. It's the work of decades. And with your support, it's the work we're doing.
Support the Mission