Finding Founders

You just heard Brenton Kelly describing the leadup to the murder of American conservationist Diane Fosse in Rwanda. Employing rigorous anti-poaching methods towards the end of her life, Fosse made more than a few enemies. But how do Fosse’s and Brenton’s stories connect? Well we’ll get to that later… let’s introduce Brenton first. He’s the treasurer and advocacy director of Quail Springs Permaculture, living far away from Africa in Socal’s Cuyama Valley. There, he helps to advocate for sustainable groundwater policies in the region’s wetlands and works to include earthen building materials in California’s outdated building code. To get an up close look at Brenton’s unusual lifestyle and find the answers to some of my burning questions, I traveled a few hours outside of Los Angeles to stay a couple days at Quail Springs. I arrived late at night, and found that, here, immersed in this remote farmland, stars were much brighter and the mornings were full of new experiences including squeezing goat’s milk right fr