Vickie Roberts

On the mantle of her fireplace at home in Winona, Mississippi, Vickie Roberts keeps a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”

The quote sits among a collection of objects that offer Roberts inspiration for her work on her 225-acre Tree Farm, her advocacy for sustainable forests and her passion for honoring the legacy of six generations of farmers in her family.

That legacy began in South Carolina and moved westward to Mississippi, and shifted from row crop farming to timber. As African Americans, Roberts’ parents, grandparents and all those who came before them weathered centuries of discrimination. But through it all, one thing has remained constant: a connection to the land.

“I am very much tied to the land,” Roberts says. “We bought this property in 1927. The ancestral ties are really, really important to me.”

Family ties in fact were so strong that in 1997, at 33 years of age, Roberts left South Florida and a successful career in pharmaceutical sales to return home to Montgomery County, Mississippi, where her parents began grooming her to take over management of the family land. When her father died in 2001, responsibility for the farm fell to Roberts and her mother.

“It wasn’t like I really wanted to, it was just thrown in my lap,” Roberts recalls. And the responsibility was daunting. “I had some really big footsteps to follow,” she says.

But the change was a natural one. “I love to be outside. Buildings don’t excite me.” And her work in sales had prepared her to approach management of the land with an eye toward business–and in particular, to understand the importance of a business plan.

Working with her mother, in 2002, they transitioned their row crop acreage to timber, and shortly after began working on a timber management plan. “That was the best thing that ever happened for me,” Roberts says. “It simplified things because I had a road map and I could see everything on one document.”

Roberts worked to get clear title to her portion of the family land so she could participate in U.S. Department of Agriculture cost-share programs. In 2008, her timber was certified as a Tree Farm, and since then she has been actively engaged in helping other woodland owners follow the same path. She joined the Montgomery County Forestry Association, and was later asked to join the board of directors. In 2011, she was chosen as the first female president of the association.

And always she repeated the management plan mantra to all who would listen. “I try to tell every landowner, you need to get your management plan,” she says. “When I was president, that was my key platform. Get a management plan; get it certified.” And get some help from forestry experts. “There is so much to know and understand,” she adds. “I always encourage landowners to get a consulting forester.”

Her work in forestry earned Roberts a spot on the U.S. Forest Service advisory committee for implementing the new forest planning rule. The new rule aims to better protect water, wildlife and woodlands, while also promoting economic vitality in the communities adjacent to national forests. On the committee, Roberts will offer guidance on enhancing rural economies. She will also work to promote activities that bring young people into the national forests.

“We need to get our youth to our national forests. There are so many kids that spend their lives in front of video games. I’m hoping to get them outdoors to these lands that belong to all of us.”

And in her own woodland, she is working on new ways of ensuring the sustainability of her timber. Roberts has a burgeoning interest in growing products that thrive within or near pine trees, like medicinal plants and grapes.

All of this work in sustainability harkens back to her response to a question her parents posed when she returned to the farm from South Florida. They asked her: “What will you do with this land?”

Roberts has endeavored to answer this question through all her work on the land and in her community. “It’s my goal to be a steward of this land and to leave it in better condition than when I got it.”