Roanoke Cooperative and its nonprofit Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project anticipate an extension and expansion of the project’s services to forest owners and farmers in North Carolina from an infusion of funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA announced in late July that the Atlantic Conservation Coalition — which includes entities from North Carolina — would receive more than $421 million in grant funding “to implement community-driven solutions that tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice and accelerate America’s clean energy transition.”
As a member of the Conservation Coalition, Roanoke Cooperative expects to receive a total of $3 million over the next five years, cooperative’s President and CEO Marshall Cherry said.
“The exact amount and timing of additional funding for the Sustainable Forestry program is yet to be determined, but it will be significant,” Cherry said. “It will accommodate both an extension of services over time and an expansion of services to assist forest owners and farmers in a larger portion of North Carolina.”
When it was created in 2013, the SFLRP program served only woodland owners in the seven counties where Roanoke Cooperative delivers electricity.
In 2022, the program expanded its reach to an additional six counties in northeastern North Carolina.
Since its inception, more than 300 landowners have participated in the program; they have accessed approximately $700,000 in financial assistance for forestry and legal services, and 235 landowners have established forest management plans for approximately 14,000 forested acres.
“The SFLRP program has more than surpassed our expectations,” Cherry said. “It has become a beacon of hope for hundreds of families in our region. It is helping them unlock the potential, environmentally and financially, of their land. The prospect of further extending its reach is an exciting one.”
SFLRP Director Alton Perry said further expansion of the program in the state will be incremental. “I anticipate a gradual expansion over the next five years as we strive to ensure that the proper resources and conditions are in place to achieve success,” he said. “With expansion a goal that we have had in mind for the better part of the past year, we already have an analysis under way to inform our decision-making process. We obviously will announce our plans once final decisions are made.”
The North Carolina sustainable forestry program is one of eight such initiatives established in the southeastern United States a decade ago to help African-American landowners retain their land and build family legacies.
Bethaney Wilkinson, executive director of the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Network, said the Conservation Coalition grant “is a major milestone for our organization. This grant underscores the vital importance of our collective work in sustaining African- American land ownership and promoting conservation. The funding will significantly advance our mission to empower landowners and ensure the long-term sustainability of their properties.”
