Sustaining Land and Legacy: A Southern Forests Symposium

Keeping Forests and the Arbor Day Foundation brought together forest landowners, conservation leaders, community partners and other stakeholders for an afternoon exploring the relationship between land, livelihood and legacy across the South. The event featured a screening of Family Tree, a documentary directed by Jennifer MacArthur that follows two Black families in North Carolina and their efforts to sustain their land, working forests and family legacies across generations.

Following the film, a panel conversation brought together voices from the film alongside leaders working at the intersection of forestry, conservation and economic development. The discussion moved beyond the story on screen to the choices facing family forest owners across the South: how land generates income, how changing forest markets and development pressures affect those choices, and what is required to make keeping forests both economically viable and possible across generations.

The afternoon concluded with an interactive conversation and networking designed to connect the film's themes to action—building stronger relationships among landowners, communities, conservation organizations and market partners. At its heart, Sustaining Land and Legacy asked a question that remains central to Keeping Forests' work: What has to be true for families to be able to choose forests—and pass that choice on to the next generation?

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