Empower Families. Protect Forests.
Strengthen Our Future
Our mission is simple yet transformative
To advance sustainable forestry, build resilient communities, and preserve the legacy of landownership for rural families. With your support, we’re helping landowners access resources, education and identify policies to strengthen both their forests and their futures.
For over a decade, the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention (SFLR) Network has worked across the U.S. South to ensure that African American and rural landowners can protect, manage, and pass down their land for generations to come.
Why does it matter? Across the U.S. South, 245 million acres of forest land, 86% of it privately owned sustain clean air, water, and wildlife habitats. The future of these forests depends on how landowners steward their land.
Because most of these forests are privately owned, their future depends on the decisions and capacity of individual landowners. When landowners have the tools to manage their forests sustainably, we all benefit with cleaner air, safer water, stronger rural economies, and a more stable climate.
Your Support Strengthens Roots for Generations
Millions of acres of forest lands owned by African American and rural families in the South, are at risk of being lost — not from neglect, but due to a lack of access to technical assistance and forestry education, as well as due to the lasting effect of historical inequities.
Your contribution helps SFLR:
Keep families on their land through estate planning and legal support.
Promote sustainable forestry practices that protect both people and the planet.
Train emerging leaders who are shaping the next generation of conservationists.
Advocate for equitable land policies that strengthen ownership and wealth in rural communities.
When families keep and manage their forests, we all benefit through cleaner air and water, stronger rural economies and healthier ecosystems.
Your gift helps conserve forests that protect our air, water, and climate. This helps to amplify the work of our nine network sites, organizations rooted in local communities that directly serve landowners where it matters most.
Your Gift in Action
Over the last twelve years, our collaboration with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and other partners has created measurable change:
- Thousands of acres retained and sustainably managed.
- Hundreds of families equipped with tools to preserve their legacy.
- A growing movement of landowners, foresters, and advocates committed to building generational wealth through the land.
Whether you give $5 or $500 a month, your recurring gift helps families manage forests that sustain communities across the South.
And we’re just getting started.
Join the Movement
Your gift has the power to create sustained, collective impact. Every acre saved and every family empowered through SFLR Network’s work keeps a legacy alive and preserves the forests that future generations will depend on.
Your gift can do both, educate families to manage their forests and conserve land that benefits us all.
Donate today and be part of the movement to protect legacy, land, and life.
Our Commitment
SFLR is a 501(c)(3) organization. Every contribution directly supports programs and partners that advance our mission with transparency, accountability, and integrity.
Together, we can ensure that the story of African American landownership is one of renewal, empowerment, and endurance.