US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. Awards the Center $425,000 to Conduct
a NEW 30-month “Sustainable Forestry” Program for
African American Landowners
The Center’s “Sustainable Forestry” Program is a joint venture with the USDA/SC Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the USDA Forest Service to address the need to
restore and conserve threatened African American forestland and increase its value and productivity
for the landowner.
“For complex historical and economic reasons, minority-owned forests in the South are often not
managed for optimum forest health and income,” said US Endowment President, Carlton Owen.
“However, recent policy and program focus within USDA and state forestry agencies along with
growing interest by minority landowners, creates opportunity to support landowners by accelerating
sound forestry practices, increased income, and retention of historic family land.”
The Center and its expert partners will help African Americans with forestland to increase their
forestland income and land asset value by providing educational workshops on new forestry
technologies from trusted experts in the field and by connecting forest owners to traditional and
emerging forest products’ markets.
The Center invites African American forested landowners to apply for this new program. Both
heirs’ property owners and landowners with clear title will be eligible to participate in the program.
To qualify, you must:
 Own forestland located within the Center’s service area (Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston,
Colleton, Dorchester and Georgetown),
 Own a minimum of 10 acres of forested land,
 Have agreement among the family regarding the use of the land, and
 Agree to remain within the program over the two-year period.
If you meet the criteria and would like to be notified when applications are available (anticipated
June 2103), please contact Jacqueline Wilson at the Center at: (843) 745-7055/
jwilson@heirsproperty.org.
THE WORK
A minimum of 25 African American landowner families with forested land will be enrolled. Due to
the amount of heirs’ property (HP) located across our service area and our mission, a greater
number of heirs’ property owners will be recruited.
The main strategies for this project are to:
 Provide outreach to low-income African American landowners—those who own HP and
those who do not—to increase their awareness of resources to help stabilize and sustain
their forested properties;
 Deliver legal services and education to clear title to HP and to create estate plans for the
landowners;
 Deliver technical assistance on the proper sustainable forestry techniques, and
 Identify and develop connections to markets for their forest products.
The Center will conduct recruitment workshops to make landowners aware of the pilot program, to
introduce them to the professionals who will be helping them, and to make them feel more
comfortable about working together to “do something” with their land.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. (the “Endowment”) is a not-for-profit
public corporation that works collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic,
transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant
communities – www.usendowment.org.
CHALLENGE MATCH!
Everyone qualifies to help raise this match! We must raise $87,500 in additional funds locally to
support this work. Contact Tish Lynn if you would like to help at: (843) 745-7055,
tlynn@heirsproperty.org.