By Alton Perry As Director of Roanoke Electric Cooperative’s (REC) Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention (SFLR) Project I have had the opportunity to help bring together like-minded organizations and offer to forge unique partnerships that connect landowners to various resources. Throughout my 9 years at REC, I have had innumerable opportunities to get to know and work with landowners who have had their land for generations and [...]

By Jerry Lacey On September 8, 2022, LRLEAN, Alabama’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and other partners will host a site visit and demonstration to educate property owners on how they can realize an even greater return on their investment through pre-commercial thinning of their timber stands. Simply stated, precommercial thinning is a forest improvement practice that occurs long before tree harvesting. In our demonstration, we [...]

By Brianna Bogan It’s not an overstatement to say I love my job at the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that protects heirs’ property and promotes its sustainable use to provide increased economic benefit to historically under-served families. My job takes me in any number of directions on any given day. The diversity of projects, as well as the diversity of landowners I [...]

By Ebonie Alexander I’m proud to say that the Black Family Land Trust (BFLT) measurably improves the quality of life for landowners in Virginia by providing families with the tools necessary to make informed, proactive decisions about their land and its use. We work to honor the legacy of the stewards of the land who came before us and have faith in the stewards of the [...]

By T’arie Todman and Frank Taylor When my dad and I were asked to write this blog, we couldn’t help but think of our family history and how our family is like so many others here in Winston County, Mississippi and throughout the South. Our story, like theirs, is one of perseverance in the face of injustice. That’s why we are both committed to the Winston County [...]

By Edna Williams When I married my husband Tyrone 40 years ago, I also married into life on the farm that had been in his family for generations. Although we were both pursuing careers outside of farming, the land was—and always had been—calling me. Even during my years teaching biology and chemistry, and later as a school principal, I dreamt of working in my own garden, [...]

By Mavis Gragg There has been a lot of discussion and debate around the American Rescue Plan, which is designed to stimulate the United States’ recovery from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we consider how to distribute funds from the American Rescue Plan, it’s critical that the needs of historically underserved Black family forest owners aren’t overlooked. The Sustainable Forestry and African American [...]