Page 12 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Third Quarter 2023

FOR THE
LOVE
OF THE
LAND
How This Attorney Found a Home in Sustainable Forestry
Above: Mavis Gragg walks in the woods, followed by videographer Tres Bruce.
Left: Horton Grove Nature Preserve is Triangle Land Conservancy’s largest public preserve, with approximately eight miles of hiking trails.
Check out the NCFA’s YouTube page to see Gragg interviewed as part of a video series on environmental sustainability.
By Mavis Gragg, CEO of HeirShares and outgoing director of the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program
Several years ago, I decided to start a law firm where I focus on families like mine — land-rich, cash-poor. I’m from Black Mountain, NC and while my family did not have much, we had small pieces of land in one of the most beautiful parts of our state.
There was Great-Granny’s little plot tucked away in a lush cove where she and Granddaddy Joe lived off the land entirely. There was Aunt Mae’s few acres on the side of a mountain that she’d leveraged as her retirement plan. She slowly liquidated portions
of the land until it was less than an acre, holding the house where she raised my father and nurtured her family for most of her 93 years. There was also our childhood home and Granny Frances’s land — two places central to my childhood. Unfortunately, we lost most of it because my siblings and I inherited the land but were left with no plan. There was no strategy to carry this legacy forward. Of course, most of my clients have the same challenges. However, most of my clients had one thing my family did not have: trees!
Early into opening my law practice, I had a transformative conversation with Jennie Stephens, Executive Director of the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, who told me about the Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR). In that conversation, I learned that people
can own forests. Intrigued by this discovery, I headed to the forests. I joined a local land trust board and began presenting
to landowners throughout eastern North Carolina. I also started hanging out with foresters, which I love.
Helping Clients Stabilize Ownership of Their Land
Soon, trees and other natural resources became part of the intake process with potential legal clients. Why? Because most people with real estate problems do not want to go to an attorney. In addition to the costs involved, their matters are often complex
and overwhelming. When we get to talking about the land itself, the tone of the conversation is upbeat. You can sense pride and often nostalgia when landowners discuss their property. As they’re sharing, I’m looking the property up in the local Geographic Information System (GIS) data to get a closer look at what’s being described by the client — a skill we do not learn in law school. By talking to them about the natural characteristics of their land, I can
10 ncforestry.org / THIRD QUARTER 2023