Publisher and Editor
Minority Landowner Magazine
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Victor L. Harris is founder, publisher and editor of Minority Landowner Magazine.
Victor is a native of Athens, Georgia, the seventh born of 10 children. He spent his childhood exploring the forest surrounding the housing project where he grew up.
He was the first in his family to attend college when he was accepted into the forestry program at Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University. He later earned his Bachelor of Science degree in forestry at North Carolina State University with a concentration in economics.
After graduating from N.C. State, he accepted the position of area forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry, becoming the first Black forester in the history of the agency. Later, he joined the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources as head of engineering services and was promoted to assistant state forester.
Victor left the Division of Forest Resources in 2005 to relaunch Cierra Publishing Company and began publishing Minority Landowner Magazine in 2006.
Minority Landowner chronicles the challenges and successes of minority farmers, ranchers and forest landowners across the country. Its mission is to provide information to help farmers improve productivity, increase profitability, and maintain ownership of their land.
He served on the Woodlands Committee of the American Forest Foundation, as a Board member of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, and as a member of the Sand County Foundation Independent Review Team.
He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Sand County Foundation's Land Ethic Mentorship Program for Historically Underserved Farmers and Ranchers, and the American Forest Farming Association Ad Hoc Advisory Committee. Victor received the Society of American Foresters’ Outstanding Forestry Journalism Award.
Victor established two scholarships to support students pursuing degrees in forestry, natural resources and agriculture. One at his alma mater Tuskegee University, the other at North Carolina A&T State University.
Are Black Foresters Becoming Extinct?
Thursday, September 19, 2024
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM MST
