Our Founders

Eustace Conway

Founder of Turtle Island PReserve

Founder of Turtle Island Preserve, star of the hit TV series, “Mountain Men”, adventurer extraordinaire…and so much more! His reputation as an amazing outdoor educator precedes him. Eustace Conway is a unique naturalist. He celebrates the freedom of individuality in all aspects of life. He is a spokesperson for the Earth, giving voice to the natural environment he loves. The renowned wildlife artist, Sallie Middleton, told him on his thirtieth birthday, "You are the most interesting man I have ever met." Perhaps this is because Eustace has lived the life he has imagined...followed his dreams. Like Thoreau, Eustace has gone to the woods to live deliberately, fronting only the essential facts of life, to see if he could not learn what it had to teach, and not when he came to die discover that he had not lived. He has lived in the woods for over forty years. He learns by visiting extremes; once when Eustace severely cut his thumb, he sewed it back together with twelve stitches, and used plant medicine to heal it.

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A man with long gray hair and beard, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, black jacket, and dusty pants standing outdoors in a rustic blacksmith or woodworking shop. The shop has tools hanging on the wall and equipment like an anvil on a wooden stump.
A man with glasses and a beard is using an angle grinder to cut a rusty circular saw blade, with sparks flying from the metal.

Preston Roberts

Co-Founder of Turtle Island PReserve

Preston James Roberts July 17, 1957 - July 24, 2017 was the visionary co-founder of Turtle Island Preserve. He was Eustace Conway's best friend and companion for decades of adventures, as well as co-starring for years on the hit TV show Mountain Men on the History Channel. Over the six seasons of Mountain Men, Preston personally raised thousands of dollars for Turtle Island's Summer Camp Scholarship program by auctioning off the knives he crafted and used on the show. After Preston's untimely and sudden death, friends and fans from around the world started a new scholarship in his honor. This memorial scholarship will carry on Preston's legacy and his deep devotion to camp at Turtle Island Preserve.

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