March 16, 2004

Environment Affairs Committee

Ref: Support SB771 Logging Impact Report

This testimony is given on behalf of the Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation. MAGIC is an alliance of 36 environmental organizations in Maryland.

Current law does not require DNR to report the damages caused by their current forest management practices. SB771 will, for the first time, require DNR to make a report and show the impact from logging activities on the public forests.

In 1991, the Sierra Club asked DNR to make such a report based upon the applicable provisions of the Maryland Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). DNR refused this request and a report was never done. This request was made 13 years ago.

Recreational users are by far the most important producers of revenue associated with public forests in Maryland. A study done in 1991 by the Department of Economic and Employment Development (DEED) clearly shows that the Savage River State Forest was producing four times as much in revenue through recreational activities as it was from logging activities. The potential income from recreational users continues to grow each year as human populations increase; but logging activities, favored by DNR, degrade the forest for most recreational activities for decades.

Table 7 and Figure 11 and 13 from the DEED report are attached. They show how the recreational numbers were determined. Sightseeing is by far the most important activity and people don’t sightsee in logged forests. DNR recognizes this fact and often leaves "beauty strips" of unlogged trees along the roads and trails to lessen the visual impact of their logging activities.

But "beauty strips" do not alter the fact that logging activities eliminate many native plants and animals, and roads used to haul out logs further fragment the forest and degrade habitat for forest interior species. Observation of native biodiversity is often the reason that people visit forests. Logging also degrades most other revenue producing recreational activities like fishing, boating, camping, and hiking.

Most income from recreational activities in forests does not accrue to DNR, and is more easily ignored than revenue that comes directly to DNR from logging activities. Income from recreation primarily goes to motel owners, retail business owners, restaurants, and gas stations. These economic drivers are very important to the counties where the forests grow, and to the state as a whole, but it is unlikely that DNR will change its management philosophy unless the incentive system that rewards them for cutting down the public forests is changed.

DNR should provide the public a comprehensive report on logging activities and show how these activities impact the state forests. We urge the Environmental Affairs Committee to support this bill.

Bob DeGroot

President, MAGIC

The following groups have specifically requested their names be added to this testimony: