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Charles County Board of Appeals

PO Box 2150

La Plata, MD 20646

Ref: Douglas Point Hearing - Docket # 1004

Dear Members of the Board of Appeals:

My name is Robert DeGroot, and I represent the Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation (MAGIC). The MAGIC alliance consists of thirty-five environmental organizations in Maryland who are working to preserve and expand wildlife habitat, and protect water supplies for people and wildlife.

To understand why a plan to turn part of the Douglas Point Forest into a gravel pit is such an environmentally damaging idea, one needs to understand the background of the growth, destruction, and regrowth of Maryland's forests.

In the early 1900s, nearly all forests in Maryland had been cut down and the land was denuded. The resulting erosion filled many streams with sediment and killed many native fish. Deep water ports like Anacostia silted in and were then closed to deep draft vessels. Large animals like elk, bear, cougar, wolves, deer, beaver, and bobcats were nearly exterminated, and only a few species like bear, deer, and beaver ever recovered in any numbers. Although the fate of large animals and birds have been closely monitored and their demise recorded for history, the fate of smaller animals like salamanders, beetles, and bacteria is largely unknown. Many plant species like ferns, lichens, herbs and fungi have also been largely overlooked.

In the last 100 years, many of our forests and streams have slowly recovered. New forests now cover nearly 43% of the land surface in Maryland, but none of these forest are considered old growth forests by scientific standards. Even though the forests have never recovered to anything near their original stature, about 71% of the Maryland forests are now considered by the lumber industry as sufficiently aged to be worth cutting. While the value of the timber logged, at first blush seems worthwhile, the US Forest Service records, "its estimated that National Forests contribute nearly $40 to the US economy for every dollar generated by logging, and create nearly 30 times as many jobs".

The problem being faced today is how to conserve the forests that once again cleanse our air and water, and recharge our streams. Science tells us the health of our fisheries, and the health of the Chesapeake Bay itself, depends on the forests and wetlands protected and conserved. The newly signed Chesapeake Bay Agreement calls for the linking of contiguous forests, the creation of riparian forest buffer strips along more than 2000 miles of streams in the Bay’s watershed, and a reduction in the rate of conversion of forests to development.

Studies have shown forests must be 150 to 200 years old before the appearance of some species of lichens. Certain herbaceous plants require from 40 to 150 years to rejuvenate, and will never recover in a forest with a logging cycle of 100 years or less. Studies done in forests 90 years after a major event, such as a clear-cut, have found no evidence of the recovery of vernal herbs normally expected in the area. Many plants disperse at extremely slow rates, and once they are eliminated from an area, it may take thousands of years, and the right habitat, for them to return.

Salamanders are found in abundance on forest floors in the East, but clearcutting of forests have been shown to completely eliminate populations of terrestrial salamanders, and severely reduce the populations of semi-aquatic salamanders. Its been estimated more than 120 years may be required for their complete recovery.

Old-growth forests provide an abundance of food and shelter for wildlife. Denning animals lose less heat if they can den in a tree instead of on the ground. This is often the difference between survival or death during a long, cold winter. Animals can only den in trees when the tree is large enough to provide a cavity for their bodies. Young stands of trees simply can’t offer this. Older trees also provide a source of high-energy food like acorns and beechnuts for animals, and are essential for animals about to go into hibernation if they expect to survive the winter. Beech trees often do not produce seeds until they’re 40 or more years old, and when old oaks and old beeches are cut down, wildlife loses one of its primary source of food. Wildlife can’t wait around for 40 to 60 years for the forests to rejuvenate sufficiently to again produce seed.

Bird populations find old growth forests very important not only for food supplies like beech seeds, but for nesting and shelter. Certain species of birds are found twice as often in old growth as they would be found in newer forests. Some species, like the red-cockaded woodpecker, are completely dependent on old pines and their soft heartwood for both food supplies and nesting requirements. During the more demanding winter months many bird species, who often live in newer forests, frequent old growth forests to sustain them until spring.

Habitat fragmentation is a problem that exists in Maryland among all its isolated forests. Each forest is small and is being fragmented more and more by human habitation and roads isolating it from historic connection to other forested lands. To ensure the viability of all species, we now understand the need to interconnect forests with corridors to provide for gene dispersal of all plants and animals. More importantly, we need to do this before the growth of human population makes it impossible.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) understands this concept, and has created a program called the "Green Infrastructure". Its purpose is to determine areas in Maryland have the greatest concentration of biological diversity, and recommend how best to connect these lands to ensure permanently protection for our dwindling plants and animals. Charles County meets the criteria to be designated as a priority area which still provides sufficient habitat for many threatened or endangered plants and animals. The new Greenway Atlas published by DNR provides a good guideline for providing permanent corridors to protect Charles County’s remaining biodiversity.

Proposing a gravel mining operation in the middle of a nearly intact expanse of forest would fragment this important habitat in a number of ways. The road into the property would fragment the forest on the Eastern side, and the conveyor for moving material to barges would fragment the forest on the Western side. The gravel pits themselves will complete this fragmentation.

The best use for Douglas forests would include watershed conservation, recreation, wildlife habitat, and providing the environmental benefits of clean air and water. Protection and recovery of indigenous aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna should be a primary objective.

The worst possible scenario would be to dig up and remove the forest bed upon which the forest depends. Douglas Point can be either a tremendous asset to environmental protection and future recreation in Maryland, or it can be a blight on the community! The Board of Appeals must make this choice. The gravel pit would create a fragmented wildlife habitat on the shoreline of the Potomac River. This is especially serious since this area is also critical to the health of the Potomac River itself. A gravel pit would change the groundwater upon which the forest buffer depends. It could seriously damage the trees and plants that buffer and protect the Potomac River, and will certainly result in pollution of the Potomac River. This plan is totally out of character with what the Chesapeake Agreement is trying to do to protect the Potomac River and the Bay.

Not only would the buffer on the Potomac River be jeopardized, but a gravel mining operation will provide considerable noise pollution, light pollution, and pollution from dust. There is real concern for the potential discharge of polluted water into the Potomac River and use of groundwater and its effect on nearby wells. All of this needs to be fully explored before any permits are given for such an operation. This operation appears totally out of character with what Charles County citizens would like in their county.

Bob DeGroot

President, MAGIC

The following Alliance Partners agree with and support this testimony:

American Canoe Association

Anacostia Watershed Society

Anne Arundel Greens

Citizens to Conserve and Restore Indian Creek

Earth Energy

Eyes of Paint Branch

Friends of Northwest Branch

Friends of Mount Aventine

Maryland Native Plant Society

Neighbors Water Watch

Potomac Riverkeeper

The Potomac Conservancy

South Mountain Heritage Society