Eastoga Enterprises LLC is a community-based organization focused on environmental education, conservation, and public engagement.
The organization develops programs that promote environmental awareness, responsible land use, and meaningful community involvement.
Our approach is rooted in accessibility, practical learning, and community connection.
Programs are designed to be inclusive, hands-on, and grounded in real environments. COURSE SYLLABUS: Digital Roots & Traditional Shoots Provider: Eastoga Enterprises LLC Location: Northeast Alabama Format: Intergenerational Community Workshop (Youth Mentors & Elder Historians) Target USDA Priority: Landscape Stewardship & Conservation Outreach (CFDA 10.912) ★ Program Overview This hands-on, community-based course bridges the gap between generations by pairing local youth with elder community members. Youth participants provide digital literacy training using modern mobile forestry tools, while elder participants pass down oral histories, traditional ethnobotanical uses, and land management wisdom using native Alabama flora. ★ Unit 1: The Invasive Tech-Hunt & Canopy Restoration ● Focus Species: Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), and Oak Trees (Quercus). ● Core Concepts: Native vs. Invasive Dynamics, Digital Forest Mapping, Canopy Conservation. ● The Intergenerational Exchange: ○ Youth-to-Elder: Youth teach elders how to use smartphone cameras to log GPS coordinates of invasive Mimosa and Autumn Olive stands into the SEEDN or iNaturalist citizen-science applications. ○ Elder-to-Youth: Elders teach youth how to visually identify native Oak species by bark texture and acorn shapes, sharing historical accounts of how invasive plants have shifted the local Alabama landscape over the last 50 years. ● Field Activity: Co-creating a live, digital "Invasive Threat Map" of the property using mobile devices, followed by an elder-led demonstration on physical, low-impact removal of invasive understory saplings. ★ Unit 2: The Wild Pharmacy & Digital Archive Project ● Focus Species: Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Winged/Smooth Sumac (Rhus), Pines (Pinus), and Cleavers (Galium aparine). ● Core Concepts: Botanical Safety, Lookalike Differentiating, Cultural Ethnobotany, Digital Media Production. ● The Intergenerational Exchange: ○ Youth-to-Elder: Youth set up mobile recording setups (smartphones, external microphones) and teach elders how to sit for digital oral history interviews and capture high-definition macro-photography of plant details. ○ Elder-to-Youth: Elders teach youth the strict, multi-sensory rules of identifying Sassafras (by smelling crushed leaves) and Sumac, explaining historical indigenous and settler uses for vitamin-C teas, spring tonics, and traditional remedies. ● Field Activity: Recording a 3-minute "Oral History Video Short" where an elder passes down a specific plant remedy to a youth partner. These are compiled into a digital public archive. ★ Unit 3: Trash Trees to Tools (Utility & Engineering) ● Focus Species: Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Winged Elm (Ulmus