Liz McLaurin looks at the landscape a little different than the rest of us. As the head of the nonprofit Land Trust for Tennessee, she works with landowners who want to set aside some (or all) of their property for conservation. So when she sees forests and farmlands, she's not just thinking about what's there now; she's also thinking about what that land might look like decades or even centuries from now. Will it be protected and left unspoiled?

In her line of work, the answer is often yes. The Land Trust helps owners make arrangements for their land, to make sure it doesn't get paved over or covered in condos. Hers was an indirect path to this work, starting with years as a working actor. In the years since, she's come to know that people who've lived on land know that land and the stories it holds — and her job is to listen for how to sustain those stories for the future.

Guest: Liz McLaurin, president and CEO, The Land Trust for Tennessee

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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