Meet a Tree Farmer: The Hanna Family
People Planet Profit
According to the last U.S. Census, Gifford, South Carolina, is home to 300 people – and the Hanna family knows nearly every one of them. This picturesque hamlet in rural South Carolina has been home to six generations of Hannas.
Harry Hanna’s grandfather started buying land in the Low Country in 1890. His forests provided a steady supply of raw material for his small mill, which produced lumber for families and businesses in the surrounding rural community. In 1904, he used wood from his own land to build the family house, an elegant home with a wide wrap-around porch that let you live outdoors on hot summer nights in the era before air conditioning.
When Harry’s father joined the business, Hanna and Hanna was formed. In the years after, the family acquired a lot of their land. Even during the height of the building boom across the southeastern United States, the Hannas continued to buy land to grow trees. In fact, what was once cleared farmland that failed to produce a healthy yield of row crops is now a vibrant forest with pine trees four stories tall.
A century later, the Hanna family now owns nearly 20,000 acres, the vast majority of which is still as forested as the day the first Hanna laid eyes on it. Today, Harry’s son Joe handles the day-to-day management of the land with the goal of keeping it productive as a tree farm, which makes it profitable for the family, enjoyable for lots of people and healthy for the planet.
Contrary to commonly held beliefs, managing the land for profit has kept development at bay. Growing and harvesting trees generates revenue for landowners, creating a financial incentive to maintain the natural fortress against the slow march of development. As long as the trees produce greenbacks, the land they grow on is likely to remain green.
The Hanna family’s love of the land continues to be passed from generation to generation. All of the children and grandchildren own and manage land, even Harry’s great-grandson who gained the title of his property as a toddler. The land – and their commitment to conserving it for the next hundred years – are the lasting legacies of the Hanna family.