With around a billion dollars in annual revenue, The Nature Conservancy is the largest organization of its kind in America. Their stated mission is to "conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends” and they boldly claim to have "done more than anyone else to advance conservation around the world." And yet, this large, powerful group is under fire from a set of progressive grassroots environmental justice advocates. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome the Reverend Leo Woodberry and Danna Smith to the show. Woodberry is pastor of Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina and the executive director of the nonprofit New Alpha Community Development Corporation, and Smith is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance. They explain why they are critical of The Nature Conservancy's stance on carbon offsets, wood pellet usage and its dubious alliance with the wood products industry.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Danna Smith: Now we have a 158 organizations that have signed onto a letter to her, again asking TNC to help us solve this problem of protecting forests from industrial logging and wood production in the US.

Narrator: With around a billion dollars in annual revenue, The Nature Conservancy is the largest organization of its kind in America. Their stated mission is to "conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends” and they boldly claim to have "done more than anyone else to advance conservation around the world." And yet, this large, powerful group is under fire from a set of progressive grassroots environmental justice advocates. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome the Reverend Leo Woodberry and Danna Smith to the show. Woodberry is pastor of Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina and the executive director of the nonprofit New Alpha Community Development Corporation, and Smith is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance. They explain why they are critical of The Nature Conservancy's stance on carbon offsets, wood pellet usage and its dubious alliance with the wood products industry.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Danna Smith and Leo Woodberry. Danna is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance and the Reverend Leo Woodbury is the executive director of the New Alpha Community Development Corporation. Reverend, Danna welcome back to Sea Change Radio.

Danna Smith: Thank you.

Leo Woodberry: Thank you so much.

Alex Wise: Yes Reverend Woodberry, we had you on in 2018 to talk about the People's Climate March which you coordinated with the Dogwood Alliance. Danna, I want you to tell us about your organization's mission and what you're currently focusing on.

Danna Smith: Sure, Dogwood Alliance is based in the southern U. S. and our mission is focused on advancing environmental justice and climate action through protecting southern forests from destructive industrial logging practices and our big effort right now is focused on stopping the growth of the wood pellet market across the southern US which has expanded like wildfire in just the last ten years causing a lot of damage to forests and negatively impacting environmental justice communities across the south as well.

Alex Wise: And Leo why don't you talk about the mission of your organization and how it intersects with Danna's work.

Leo Woodberry: Sure what we're finding is that with the increase impacts from the climate crisis it is especially impacting gone far state communities will rather than leaving our trees standing all farmers to being decimated by log game...