Page 16 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 1 - Winter 2023

his father’s property, the couple realized that they needed to cut 65-70 acres of timber. This brought Bailey up close and personal with Georgia’s timber industry and piqued his interest in learning more.
“When we started to think about sustainability and how we could generate recurring revenues, timber became something that I dug into. We needed to clear some timber anyway for some pasture property and that was my first experience with clearing timber personally,” Bailey said.
Getting Involved
in the Industry
Not too long after, Bailey would meet John Mulcahy, who asked him to do a speaking engagement at Georgia Pacific. Mulcahy is not only the vice president-stewardship for Georgia Pacific but also the chair for the Georgia Forestry Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He would later reach out to Bailey after a post on LinkedIn concerning his “10,000-acre timber strategy” went viral.
Bailey’s leadership in business and entrepreneurship, enthusiasm for landownership, interest and experience with the timber industry, and his holdings in Middle Georgia made him a natural fit.
After talking with Mulcahy, Bailey was able to meet with Andres Villegas, president and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Association. He was eventually added to the Georgia Forestry Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which consists of 18 members.
STARTING A
RENAISSANCE
of Black Landownership
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 14% of agricultural land was owned by Black landowners in the 1920s. Over the years, that number has declined and today, Black landowners only hold 1.3% of the agricultural property in the United States.
Public and private investment has been dedicated
to supporting Black farmers and forest landowners
by providing access to funding and resources. At the federal level, USDA has allocated funding to support socially disadvantaged farmers and forest landowners. Also, the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR) was launched to
help rural Black landowners address heirs’ property and land retention issues and understand the value of responsibly managing forest land.
In Georgia, programs like the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center have been focused on providing legal support and resources to landowners who have complicated heirs’ property issues that inhibit harvesting or regular management of their property. In addition, The McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (SEED) program in McIntosh County also provides support for minority landowners by providing access to resources, education and markets.
Through the Black Land Institute, Jay Bailey, the president and CEO of the H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE) in Atlanta, is looking to create 5,000 new landowners of 50 acres or more within five years. He believes that creating and empowering more Black landowners is the path to help close the wealth gap.
“If Black people, 100 years ago, bought not a single additional parcel — if we just had the land that we had 100 years ago — Black people collectively would be $1 trillion wealthier,” said Bailey, who is also a member of the Georgia Forestry Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “The great irony is that Black people literally built the agrarian
economy on their backs. How will we ever
come up with a comprehensive wealth-building strategy or attempt
to close the wealth gap if we don’t own any of the foundations on which wealth
is built?”
14 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
ONLY 1.3%
OF AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY IN THE U.S. IS OWNED BY BLACK LANDOWNERS