America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell is Going to South Carolina to see What the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program is all About
SOUTH CAROLINA – Chuck Leavell is on the road again. Stay tuned for a special episode of America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell and follow his journey into the south. The new episode aims to shine light on a deep-rooted program that helps African American landowners better understand options for forested land they inherited or own.
The Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention (SFLR) program is a partnership of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and USDA Forest Service (USFS). The program promotes intergenerational land retention and family asset creation for African American landowners across the southeast.
“The success of the Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project demonstrates the power of government, philanthropy, and community collaboration to advance opportunity. We at the Endowment are proud to support a program that leverages public and private investment designed to empower African American families and communities to retain rural family land ownership, enhance forest health, and build intergenerational wealth,” said Endowment President and CEO Carlton Owen.
The SFLR program was launched in 2013 as an effort to aid African American landowners in turning their forested properties into economic assets. The program capitalizes on innovative partnerships between local, state, and federal organizations to assist landowners in this process. SFLR provides a variety of support to these landowners, including access to legal assistance and opportunities for sustainable forestry. To date, the program supports 8 project sites across 7 states and more than 955 landowners. The participants own a combined 71,000 acres, ensuring land assets remain held by historical landowners.
SFLR has continued to strengthen networks that support, connect, and empower landowners. These networks are catalysts through which African American landowner leaders are emerging and organizing—both locally and regionally. Ultimately, it is the empowered leadership of these landowners and those they influence that will define the program’s legacy.
The series is produced by Choose Outdoors and 42 Degrees North Media and the South Carolina episode is made possible with support from the USDA Forest Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Endowment.
We hope you are as excited about the premiere of our next episode in South Carolina and the SFLR program, as are we. The inspiring and life changing stories you hear won’t be found anywhere else. Check it out on your local PBS station. Call in to request it!
For more information on the series, to host a showing of an episode or to get involved in future episodes, visit americasforestswithchuckleavell.com, follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or email us.
