Regional forestry meeting now set

A regional conference titled “Preserve Our Land-Owned Legacy and Keep it in the Family” will be held virtually on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

The Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Joint Regional Conference will start at 9 a.m. on both days.

The conference is co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Program and Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, according to a news release.

“The event will inform forestry landowners and stakeholders about the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program,” said Kandi Williams, UAPB Keeping it in the Family outreach coordinator. “It is SFLR’s mission to help promote

healthy forests, provide educational resources and services to resolve heirs’ property issues and to build generational wealth through forestland management.”

On Aug. 31, conference topics are land ethics, succession planning, global trends in the forestry industry, timing conservation practices, things you should know before selling timber, obtaining a Farm Service Agency farm number and Natural Resources Conservation Service costshare programs.

Topics on Sept. 1 are conservation partnerships, the heirs’ property relending program, storytelling: a landowner’s love of nature and strategies for successful landowner engagement through forestry policies.

Conference presenters include Arkansas Congressman Bruce Westerman, 4th District; Justin Mallett, county forester, Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division; and Dewayne Goldmon, a Jefferson County farmer and senior advisor for racial equity to the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary of agriculture.

Participants will include landowners, government officials, college interns, forestry personnel, university officials and community leaders.

To register for the conference, people may visit https://bit.ly/3iNYijQ. For questions, call Kandi Williams at 870-571-9428 or email her at williamska@uapb.edu.