An Exploration ofAfricanAmerican Forest Landowners inMississippi

Abstract

In Mississippi counties with large African American populations, forest resources constitute one of the most important agricultural outputs. Despite the efforts of natural resources extension personnel to provide educational programming to this group, little is known about their needs, concerns, and meanings of the landscape for them. Research has taken place in the Carolinas, Alabama, and Georgia; however, forests and African American forest landowners in Mississippi face unique social, historical, and ecological contexts that need to be examined. If forests and forestry programs are to provide an equitable distribution of benefits to diverse populations in Mississippi, a culturally based understanding of landowners is needed with special attention to those populations who have been traditionally underserved because of race and income. We address this need by presenting data from focus groups with African American forest landowners in several rural Mississippi counties. Findings indicate that a complex relationship with the landscape has inculcated much traditional knowledge about forest resources, opportunities and challenges to participation in programs and landowner associations, and concerns over heir property, among other factors. We discuss implications for how forestry can meet the sustainable natural resource goals and rural development needs of African American landowners and communities.

"Being Stewards of Land is Our Legacy": Exploring the Lived Experiences of Young Black Farmers

“…The reasons for the falloff are varied and nuanced, and scholars have debated these causes for the better part of a century. Based on the literature, there are several emerging rationales that attempt to explain the incidence of black land loss and the decline in the number of black farmers, including economic hardships as a result of the structural changes in agriculture (Brown, Christy, & Gebremedhin, 1994;Busch & Juska, 1997;Lobao & Meyer, 2001); loss of land through partition sales due to heir property (Dyer & Bailey, 2008;Gilbert, Sharp, & Sindy Felin, 2002;Pennick, Gray, & Thomas, 2007;Wood & Gilbert, 2000;Zabawa, 1991); nonparticipation in government programs (Gordon, Barton, & Adams, 2013;Tyler & Rivers, 2014); and discrimination at the county, state, and federal levels (Havard, 2001;Hinson & Robinson, 2008;Pigford v. Glickman, 1999;Wood & Gilbert, 2000). Additionally, the Great Migration of the 20 th century accounted for the exodus of millions of African Americans from the agricultural South to northern cities where the social and economic opportunities were considered more favorable.…”

Integrating Research and Outreach for Environmental Justice: African American Land Ownership and Forestry

“…The rate of African American rural land loss has far exceeded losses for other racial and ethnic groups since the turn of the 20th century (Gilbert, Sharp, and Felin 2002; Dyer and Bailey 2008; Gordon et al. 2013). One of the primary contributors to African American land loss is believed to be the prevalence of heirs’ property among rural black populations (Dyer and Bailey 2008; Dyer, Bailey, and Van Tran 2009; Zabawa 1991).…”

“…Over a 30‐year period, concerns about African American participation in forest management have been voiced and an enduring set of obstacles identified: lack of trust and a disconnect between African American landowners and forestry professionals, discrimination and perceived bias in access to the conservation programs that support family forestry, and a legacy of land ownership issues such as heirs’ property that grew out of historical racial inequalities in the South (Gordon et al. 2013; Hilliard‐Clark and Chesney 1985). Yet studies also indicate that African Americans have strong attachments to the land and interest in managing forest lands (Gordon et al.…”

“…Yet studies also indicate that African Americans have strong attachments to the land and interest in managing forest lands (Gordon et al. 2013; Hilliard‐Clark and Chesney 1985; Schelhas et al. 2012).…”

Payments for Carbon Sequestration to Alleviate Development Pressure in a Rapidly Urbanizing Region

“…In addition, the average age of the nonindustrial private forest owner in the United States is declining as older forest owners either sell their properties for development or transfer them to their children (Butler 2008). The growing body of research on the shifting values of nonindustrial private forest owners suggests that younger generations who inherit land have very strong psychological attachments to their properties (Bliss and Martin 1989, Gordon et al 2013, BenDor et al 2014, Creighton et al 2015. The strong meanings forest owners tie to their properties is probably an important factor affecting decisions about how they manage their land.…”