Q&A: How a Land Purchase Inspired by an Unfulfilled Promise Aims to Make People of Color Feel Welcome in the Wilderness

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with Jade Stevens, president of the 40 Acre Conservation League. 

Green spaces tend to be harder to come by in communities of color, one of the many consequences of redlining, the racist practice of denying mortgages to Black families.

And Black and brown people often feel unsafe and unwelcome in wilderness and park areas dominated by white recreators.

In a 2020 incident that went viral, a white woman called the police on a Black man who was birding in Central Park in New York City, sparking awareness about racism in outdoor spaces.

Now, the first Black Land Trust in California, the 40 Acre Conservation League, is trying to right these wrongs.

With $3 million in funding from the state Wildlife Conservation Board and Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the nonprofit recently purchased its first piece of land, 650 acres bordering the Tahoe National Forest in northern California.

Jade Stevens is the president of the 40 Acre Conservation League. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

STEVE CURWOOD: Before we talk about the project, let’s talk a little bit about you and your own experiences. Tell me something that inspired you to start the 40 Acre Conservation League.

JADE STEVENS: I’ve always been in love with the outdoors. I had really great experiences as young as middle school, or even elementary school, as a Girl Scout, where I was able to do camping trips with my friends, hanging out on the beach, learning how to surf. And now as an adult, similar to many, during the pandemic, I found new activities to get me outside and just clear my head. That was really cycling. Being able to ride around some of the familiar trails and routes throughout California, I rode along [the Pacific Coast Highway] all the way to San Diego, I’ve gone up north to Santa Barbara and even rode around Northern California. 

I realized that I didn’t really see a lot of Black women like me cycling, and thought that if people were to join me and to see what I saw, they would really enjoy being outside. This ongoing love that I’ve had for the outdoors has been something that I’ve wanted to share with others. That is one of the things that led me to start the 40 Acre Conservation League.

CURWOOD: Talk to me about your experience and your concern as a Black woman about what it’s like to be outdoors and how other Black people, other Black women, other people of color, have some trepidation about being outdoors.

STEVENS: As much as I love cycling, and where it’s taken me, I’ve definitely ended up in areas where I didn’t feel exactly welcomed or safe. One thing as a cyclist that we all have to remember is when you’re on your bike, you’re really on your own, right? You have your phone to call someone, but there are certain areas where there just isn’t a strong connection. I’ve definitely been in areas in the mountains where there was really no one there but me and thinking about who can I call on, who would be willing to open their door if I were to end up [with] a flat or if I actually injured myself. 

I do remember an experience riding through the Trump caravans and being blocked off from getting through the road because they didn’t want us throwing off their rally. I definitely felt uncomfortable, just kind of hearing people say, like, “We don’t want you here,” or “Get out of the way.” That was a wake-up call for me. 

Those are experiences that could have turned out more dangerous, but it only takes one story, one experience to really deter others from wanting to try those things out. I encourage people to be aware of those things. But I hope that through the work that we’re doing, they’ll still feel comfortable to do it together with people who look like them.

CURWOOD: Let’s talk a little bit about the history behind the name that you’ve picked, the 40 Acre Conservation League. During the Civil War, General Sherman as he was marching through had many Black people attached to his column, because if you joined up with the Union Army, you were free if you were a slave. And finally, he turned around and said, “Look, you don’t have to stick with me, we’ll get you 40 acres and a mule.” But as we know, that never really happened for most, or certainly a whole lot of Black people. How does General Sherman’s promise, the failure to meet that promise, connect with your organization’s present mission?

STEVENS: The 40 Acre Conservation League was inspired by that unfulfilled promise of 40 acres and a mule. The damage from that moment has been equivalent to almost $326 billion in Black land loss. The Black community has really suffered from that. 

But rather than dwell on something that was promised to us, the idea of the 40 Acre Conservation League was really meant to inspire a new way of thinking about it. Land ownership is one of the key factors that really pushes generational wealth. We thought, if we were able to acquire land, and really remove that as being a barrier from achieving economic success, we would want to do that—to really help think about how we can change that outcome of the unfulfilled promise. We’re really focused on finding ways to use this as a catalyst to get more people into the conservation space and the outdoor industry, and really tap into the opportunities there.

CURWOOD: You’ve purchased your first piece of land in California with funding from organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Where is it exactly and what does it look like?

STEVENS: This land is located in an area called Emigrant Gap. It is the midway point between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. And the first thing you would see when you get to the property is Lake Putt. It is a 30-acre lake that is beautiful and is really one of my favorite places to sit down and reflect. 

Outside of the lake, there are miles of trails that you can walk and explore around the different mountainscapes and trees. If you’re feeling like taking a hike, there’s a creek that you can follow from the lake that goes for a couple more miles deeper into the property. If you’re familiar with Lake Tahoe, and the Tahoe National Forest, that is one of the major borders around our property. It’s really just a beautiful place.

CURWOOD: That territory tends to have mountain lions as well. How safe is it to hike there?

STEVENS: There’s definitely mountain lions there. But in addition to that, there are deer, bumblebees and butterflies. So I mean, yes, you are in their home. And I understand that that might be a little concerning. But I do think with proper education and just increasing everyone’s ecoliteracy, they’ll have a better understanding on how we can both enjoy the property without any sense of risk.

CURWOOD: What’s your vision for this land moving forward? 

STEVENS: Our mission and vision is to achieve an outdoors for all, where everyone can feel safe and welcomed to nature. And we see this happening in three ways: through economic justice, environmental justice and recreational justice. 

Recreational justice is really something that we believe is possible for everyone. We want people to be able to enjoy the outdoors in a way that is accommodating and safe and publicly accessible to everyone. If we can achieve that, then we’re increasing the connection and appreciation for the outdoors, which helps us to achieve the second pillar, which is environmental justice—helping people understand the importance of conserving land and why it’s so important to protect this. 

And then once people appreciate how important it is to enjoy it, for those that have entrepreneurial views, that helps us hit our third pillar, which is economic justice. That outdoor economy is $97 billion. But it is not diverse. The number of registered foresters, ecologists, scientists is less than 1 percent across the board when we’re talking about people of color, and so being able to not only enjoy it, and understand how to protect it, but finding a way to really benefit from it as an entrepreneur is something that we believe can all exist in the conservation space. That is the vision that we have with all of the land we acquire.

CURWOOD: So the richness of the land, from the land, and what about for the land? How do you plan to make sure that the ecology of this place stays intact? It doesn’t perhaps get loved to death, which can happen in some public spaces?

STEVENS: We rely not only on the work that we’re doing right now with the land, but on our partners to increase ecoliteracy and have more educational programming for the everyday person to understand what it means to conserve land. Six hundred and fifty acres is a huge space, and there will be certain areas that people will be able to recreate at, but most of it will be left untouched. There’s a balance between having areas that are designated for camping, fishing, hiking, while also having other areas that are protected based on the habitat that’s there.

CURWOOD: California is a risky place for wildfires. How do you plan to deal with that threat in the coming years and decades as climate change continues to get worse? 

STEVENS: Climate change is something that we are actively following. When knew we chose this land that it was in a wildfire risk zone. So we received funding to do two things: one, which is public access planning, and the larger part is forest health and restoration. 

Our job now is to identify areas that have an overgrowth of shrub or an overgrowth of fuel that could really give way to a spread of wildfire, and clearing that out. That work is already under way. It’s something that will be continuous, where we are identifying sections within the property that need to be restored and removed. That’s something that we’re constantly seeking funding for to continue the work to do our part in reducing the chances of wildfire in that area.

CURWOOD: What do you hear from people of color about your project and how they experience the outdoors? How crucial do they see a space like this being?

STEVENS: You just took me back to a letter that we received when we announced the acquisition of our first land. It came from an inmate at San Quentin prison. He wrote us a letter after watching a news segment that we acquired this land. I got a little emotional because I was not expecting that. His letter was filled with gratitude that he was inspired, even though … he was in a cell, that he was inspired, that when he would be released, that he would have a place to go to. 

Growing up in L.A., seeing people who have never, you know, left their block, he now is looking forward to the opportunity to go to a place that he feels welcome. We’re hearing such great feedback from more people saying that, “Because we saw you there, I can’t wait to go on the first tour.” That’s really inspiring and motivating for us—being able to just plant the idea into the community that we belong is something that we want to continue, and really start a movement.

CURWOOD: This is just your first piece of land that you have helped acquire for the public of color. What are you hoping the 40 Acre Conservation League will accomplish in the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 100 years?

STEVENS: Our goal after this first land acquisition is to continue to acquire more land in different terrains. We have a formula that really guides the property we go after. And because we are really trying to connect the community to the outdoors, we tend to look for land that is between 100 or 150 miles away from an urban area. 

Sacramento is a good example. Emigrant Gap is about 70 miles from the city. And so we are actively looking for other land opportunities in the Bay area, near Los Angeles, near San Diego. And since you said 10, 20, 30 years, eventually across the country, and knowing that different terrains, from the forest to the beach, even to the desert, are different experiences that people are ready to explore.