Public Forests of Maryland Back to Photo Gallery

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Crabtree Creek Forest is filled with a variety of flowering plants. Several of these are pictured below.

A forest logged from 15 to 30 years earlier still does not provide good habitat for most species. The trees are small and produce few seeds or nuts, and the trees are not large enough to provide cavities for most wildlife. Young forests with fast growing species may be fine for a forest industry intent on logging trees of any size to feed pulp mills, but young forests don't provide the characteristics needed to sustain populations of many species of native plants and animals.

Science has shown that many characteristics of ancient forests, such as large logs and a thick carpet of debris, appear infrequently in forests managed by people. Very few eastern U.S. forests exhibit old growth qualities. It is estimated that less than one percent of the forested areas east of the Mississippi can currently qualify as old growth forests. Biologists are also learning that it is critical to protect significant stands of wild forest, rather than just postage-stamp size preserves.