Stewarding landscapes meant to last generations.

Sarah Francisco, Virginia State Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center, joins The Wild Idea for a wide-ranging conversation about place, promise, and the long arc of public lands conservation in the southern Appalachians. Growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley gave Sarah an early understanding of how deeply people’s lives are tied to land — both the challenges of working landscapes and the deep affection they inspire.

We talk about how those early experiences shaped her career in environmental law and advocacy, and how they continue to inform her work protecting national forests across Virginia and the broader Appalachian region. Sarah reflects on the role of working lands alongside wild lands, the importance of community-driven conservation, and why public participation and trust are foundational to good forest management.

The conversation also digs into the Roadless Rule, its origins, and the critical role southern Appalachian communities played in making roadless protection a truly national issue. Sarah shares concerns about recent shifts in Forest Service decision-making, the erosion of long-standing commitments made through collaborative forest planning, and why institutional memory and follow-through matter when stewarding landscapes meant to last generations.

Questions we explore:

• How growing up on a working farm shapes a conservation ethic
• The connection between working lands and protected public lands
• Why the southern Appalachians are globally significant — and often overlooked
• The history and importance of the Roadless Rule
• What happens when public trust in collaborative land management breaks down
• How climate change and extreme weather are reshaping Appalachian forests
• Why local engagement gives reason for hope

Links & Resources:

Organizations

• Southern Environmental Law Center

Places

• George Washington & Jefferson National Forests
• Shenandoah National Park
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Law, Policy, and Conservation Frameworks

• Roadless Rule
  A landmark federal policy protecting undeveloped national forest lands.
• National Forest Management Act
  Federal law guiding the development of forest plans with public input.
• Wilderness Act
  The law that established the National Wilderness Preservation System and the process for congressional designation of wilderness areas.

Sarah Francisco is the Virginia State Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), where she leads efforts to protect national forests, public lands, and natural resources across the Commonwealth. An environmental attorney by training, Sarah has spent her career working on forest management, roadless area protections, and collaborative conservation initiatives throughout the southern Appalachians. She served for several years as the leader of our regional Forests & Public Lands before becoming the Director of SELC’s Virginia Office in 2016.

Sarah grew up on her family’s Christmas tree farm in Virginia’s beautiful, rural Shenandoah Valley. Their main business was and is Christmas trees, and her father is still running the farm. This experience shaped her deep connection to place and her understanding of how working lands and wild lands intersect.

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