Wildlife and Forest Coalition
The Wildlife and Forest Coalition was formed in 2005 to bring more attention to the plight of wildlife in Maryland. Many decisions made by state agencies degrade Maryland's natural resources and jeopardize wildlife. The Coalition plans to exert pressure on these agencies to bring about changes that will benefit wildlife.
Management decisions concerning public forests often benefit a small number of people. An example is the current policy of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to log 50% of Maryland's public forests. The policy benefits only 5,000 people in Maryland who are either part of the timber industry or use wood products from Maryland's forests. On the other hand, their policy degrades large areas of forest and wildlife habitat that is valued by the rest of Maryland's citizens.
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Organizations Supporting
the Forest Bills
Represents 200,000 or more
people in Maryland
- Anacostia Watershed Society
- Audubon Naturalist Society
- Humane Society of the US
- MAGIC
- Maryland Native Plant Society
- Green Democrats
- National Park Trust
- Sierra Club of Maryland
- Wildlife Land Trust
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DNR gets to keep most of the money derived from logging. This creates a severe conflict of interest within the agency since it is also responsible for protecting Maryland's natural resources. This conflict will likely be resolved only through legislation.
The Public should be heavily involved in any decision concerning the use of public lands, but instead the public is kept largely in the dark about decisions involving use of this land.
Ecological Network in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay Program recognizes the importance of wildlife habitat in the region, and has produced a map showing (in dark green colors) the most ecologically important lands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Most of this important ecological land is along the Appalachian Mountains.
If you look more closely at the important ecological areas, you will find in Maryland they lie primarily within the state forests. These forests should be protected to preserve natural resources and native biodiversity. Logging, along with logging roads, tend to fragment forests and allows the introduction of invasive plants and animals into the heart of a forest. These invasive species displace native plants and animals.
Natural Succession versus a Managed Forest
When a forest evolves naturally, the resulting forest is very different from a forest that is continually logged. This is borne out by many scientific studies. Natural succession creates a more complex forest which includes many large old trees that produce large quantities of seeds and nuts, and provide tree cavities used by many species. The forest floor of a natural evolving forest is covered with deep humus needed by many species that live out their entire lives on the forest floor. Dead and dying trees, abundantly available in a complex forest environment, are essential to the lives of many other species. Conditions favorable to many species do not occur in young forests that are being continually logged.
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