Chuck Leavell of Rolling Stones Fame

Guest Performer at InWoods Expo 2007

 Chuck Leavell will be attending the InWoodsExpo2007 April 26, making an appearance at both the Expo site near Hot Springs, Arkansas, and headlining the Thursday, April 26 Log A Load For Kids benefit dinner and auction at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Why is Leavell interesting in mingling with loggers, foresters and landowners, you ask?

Most people know Chuck Leavell as one of the most respected and sought-after piano players and keyboardists in modern music history. His work both as a solo artist and as a musician with The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, Train and many others is among the most accomplished of any living keyboardist. Leavell is an inductee in both the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. His latest CD Southscape on Evergreen Arts Records has garnered widespread critical acclaim, and he also appears with the Rolling Stones on their recent CD, A Bigger Bang. He’s now on the road with the Stones World Tour.

But what many don’t know, even those in the forest products industry, is that Chuck Leavell has played an “instrumental” role as a forestry activist and conservationist, garnering public attention for pro-forestry practices and policies in his home-state Georgia and across the nation. He was named national Tree Farmer of the Year in 1999, and has been the recipient of numerous conservation awards from various organizations. He serves on nearly every board of directors for every timber cause in Georgia and he and his wife Rose Lane Leavell were guests of honor at America’s capital on December 3, 2003, when President George W. Bush signed the Healthy Forest Act into law.

Just this past January, Leavell appeared on the floor of the Georgia State House during the legislative session to make a pitch for $50 million to help the timber industry. Leavell and other activists and politicians are seeking support for a project that would provide incentives for timber growers to set aside chunks of their land as natureconservancies, just to make sure the land will never be developed.

The inspiration for Leavell’s passion for sustainable forestry is his 2,000-acre homestead, “Plantation Charlane.” Located in Twiggs Country Georgia, Leavell and Rose Lane have managed the property since they inherited the bulk of the estate from Rose Lane’s Grandmother, Miss Julia, in 1982. It was then that Leavell and his family moved from Macon, Georgia, to Charlane, taking up permanent residence in the 1820s cottage Miss Rose’s grandparents built and investing tremendous time and effort into establishing a multiple use “preserve.” The expansive Tree Farm is dominated by forestland devoted to active timber production as well as hunting, wildlife habitat, outdoor-recreation, designated conservation land and outdoor forestry classrooms.

In the January 2005 issue of Georgia Magazine, freelance writer Jane F. Garvey described Leavell as “passionate about saving the land and sustainability, but he’s no maniacal tree hugger.” “The key is balance,” Leavell told Garvey. “The voice of reason in this issue of forestry, and perhaps in management of natural resources, is what’s important. I get upset at the extremes and misinformation,” he added.

To that end, Leavell has made it his work to be a voice of reason, educating the public about forestry and seeking input of environmental and conservation groups and raised social consciousness to ensure reasonable government policy that includes a balanced approach to forest and natural resources management.  He has taken this role seriously, coauthoring a book with Mary Welch entitled, Forever Green: the History and Hope of the American Forest and a new children’s book, The Tree Farmer. He also serves as a spokesman for the recently-established Abundant Forests Alliance, and was the winner of the prestigious 2006 Forest Leadership Communication award.