News

Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation Announces Partnership with American Forest Foundation and Others as Part of USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities

Published

2 years ago

September 15, 2022

Press Release

Yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Biden-Harris Administration through the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity, with projects from the second funding pool to be announced later this year. These initial projects will expand markets for climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers.

The American Forest Foundation, a national conservation organization that works to deliver meaningful conservation impact through the empowerment of family forest owners, was awarded $35 million in funding from the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities to expand climate-smart forest products markets for family forest owners.

“We are excited to be part of the funding for this five-year, $35 million grant,” said Dr. Jennie L. Stephens, CEO of Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation™. The Engaging Family Forests to Improve Climate-Smart Commodities (EFFICACI), is an initiative developed by the American Forest Foundation (AFF) and its partners, which includes the Center, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Purdue University, and Women Owning Woodlands.

The EFFICACI is designed to leverage the Family Forest Carbon Program, a program led by AFF and TNC, to expand and solidify the market for climate-smart timber commodities is designed to leverage the Family Forest Carbon Program.

“The USDA’s groundbreaking investment will help AFF unlock the potential of family forests to reach our nation’s ambitious climate goals,” said Rita Hite, president, and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. “We are energized by the Administration’s commitment to investing in rural America and advancing win-win solutions for people and our planet. This funding will be instrumental in catalyzing the impact of AFF’s Family Forest Carbon Program to support and empower all landowners in the fight against climate change.”

“The Center for Heirs’ Property Preservatio will serve as a lead partner in the recruitment of underserved groups,” said Stephens. “We will help address barriers to entry that are unique to underserved forest owners. Through this program, we will expand the network of legal and landowner engagement expertise. We will help other organizations in the South and Appalachia build their capacity to conduct community outreach, landowner engagement, and deliver legal education and services to historically underserved landowners.”

This initiative will enhance production of climate-smart forest products by engaging family forest owners across 13 states including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It will also help in supporting minority landowners, particularly in the South, through community outreach, resources, and legal education and services for historically underserved landowners.

The initiative aims to engage 1,600 landowners with an estimated 162,000 acres of family forests within a five-year time frame. U.S. families and individuals care for the largest portion (39 percent) of our nation’s forests, and supply 50 percent of the wood fiber that flows into supply chains. Yet most of these owners are not actively engaged in sustainable or climate-smart forest practices, typically due to the historic high costs of planning and implementation. Less than 13 percent of landowners have met with a professional forester or have a long-term management plan, and less than 1 percent of the lands in carbon markets are small, family ownerships. This grant will help the Family Forest Carbon Program continue to bridge the gap between financial barriers and family owned forests’ potential. The program works with family and individual landowners to manage their forests in ways that meaningfully increase the amount of carbon sequestered and stored, and partners with businesses who are working to confront climate change and achieve vital social, economic, and environmental outcomes.

The Center is a non-profit organization that protects heirs’ property and promotes the sustainable use of land to provide increased income to historically under-served landowners. Its services include legal and forestry education, direct legal services to resolve heirs’ property title issues, forestry land management services, technical assistance and connection to programs, and financial assistance to make these families’ land more profitable.

–

The Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation™ has been protecting heirs’ property through legal education and direct legal services since 2005. In 2013, the Center began promoting the sustainable use of land through forestry education and services to provide increased economic benefit to low-wealth family landowners. The Center provides legal and

forestry services in Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillion, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Sumter and Williamsburg counties.

To date, the Center has provided 3,569 persons with free, one-hour “Advice and Counsel” (A&C) with 1,425 clients receiving direct legal services to clear title. A total of 1,501 simple wills have been drafted at free, community Wills Clinics; More than 503 families (who collectively own more than 40,000 acres) have benefited from various levels of education and expert resources to develop and implement sustainable forestry management plans and 319 titles have been cleared on family land with a total tax-assessed value of $19.3 million.