Agriculture Secretary cites Endowment Partnership

On Monday, June 17, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack participated in his very first Google+ Hangout to discuss opportunities available through USDA’s StrikeForce Initiative for Rural Growth and Opportunity. In the last five minutes of the Hangout, the Endowment-led Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program was cited as an exemplary partnership (see clip above).

The collaborative $1.2 million grant program is a joint venture of the Endowment, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the USDA Forest Service to help stem the loss of African American owned forests. The program consists of pilot projects in two multi-county regions in the Carolinas aimed at restoring and conserving threatened, African American forestland in the southern U. S. by increasing forest-owner income and land asset value.

Loss of historic Black family land is endemic in the regions where past discrimination and economic factors have diminished the value and productivity of Black-owned forests.  The project introduces new forestry technologies, creates trusted, comprehensive, and replicable systems of landowner outreach and support, and develops income streams by connecting forest owners to traditional and emerging forest products markets.