For many, finding the perfect tree is an exciting part of the holiday. This year, consider making a outing of it and visiting Montgomery County's tree farms. We have some great family-owned options farms to choose from. 
Butlers Orchard
Naughty Pine Nursery

An add on excursion- you can time your tree expedition to visit the Countryside Artisan's Open Studio Tour weekends.  Or maybe a winery or brewery.

For those of you with affection for our County’s wonderful rustic roads- take a little time to hear from those giving voice to the benefits of the program and continued stewardship of these byways. 
(MCA’s testimony begins at approximately 6:07:00 - but hear others strong testimony as well.)

The record will remain open until December 9 for folks to write in to support the program and important Rustic Roads Advisory Committee recommendations (testimony here.)

​Details (thank you Leslie Saville):

WHO: You, your friends and neighbors, residents, visitors, groups (civic, historic, environmental, recreational), farmers, farm market and CSA operators, vintners and brewers, artists, visitors, cyclists, equestrians, hikers, businesses--anyone and everyone who loves and uses our rustic roads. 


WHAT: Please tell the Planning Board how your road (or your favorite road) is special to you. Your testimony doesn't need to be long, but if it's personal and heartfelt, it will be powerful.  

Ideas you might include: These roads are historic and unique, as are the bridges, structures and landscapes along them. They are narrow, slow, and safe, leading to places of wonder--to views of Sugarloaf Mountain, to historic communities, both Black and White, past a one-room schoolhouse, a favorite barn or a row of 100-year old cedar trees. 

Your testimony would be especially helpful if it highlights how valuable and irreplaceable these historic, scenic roads continue to be, that they are integral to our working landscapes, rural areas and villages, and the functioning of the Agricultural Reserve. They strengthen our rural businesses including our farms, markets, orchards, stables, wineries, breweries and art studios along them. These roads are safely shared by all users, and their narrow pavements protect the water quality in our streams and reservoirs. Heritage tourism along these roads is an enormous economic asset for our rural economy. 

Love your own road! Please name your road (or roads). Include a stunning photo or two! Check your road description in the master plan and point out something specific you support. Examples--a new designation, a historic or one-lane bridge that's a Significant Feature of your road, a history write up that highlights things you might not know or that you hope others might learn, or historic sites, views or champion trees shown on the new map of your road. 

Send email to:

MCP-Chair@mncppc-mc.org


BCC:  info@mocoalliance.org



Thanks for your support of our Rustic Roads!

Late breaking good news from Frederick County: Outgoing County Executive Jan Gardner has just announced that Frederick County will institute a Rustic Roads Program to protect 80 miles of roads that were identified in the 20 year old Rural Roads program with an "exceptionally rustic" designation and adds 287 miles of "candidate roads" that will be studied for inclusion in the program. 

Executive Gardner: "We know that preservation is crucial to maintaining our community’s unique characteristics,” Executive Gardner said. “By launching this Rustic Roads Program, we can preserve Frederick County’s rustic roads in their natural and historic settings so future generations can understand and appreciate our rich agricultural history.” 
Video of the proclamation here and County press release here. 

Frederick's push for more protection for rural roads makes a strong case for continued protection for those same roads as they cross the border into MoCo's rural lands. 

Lets face it, the holidays come with a lot of stress. You start with the best of intentions- your heart swells with the first light display or card from a friend- but somewhere in there, you've just had too much pie, or paid too much for expedited shipping, you've just lost that peace on earth, goodwill toward all part. 

Fear Not! Over the past years 3 new days on the calendar have emerged as a counterweight to the frantic shopping and schlepping that the holidays can become. We are partnering with the county Department of Environmental Protection for the "Gift Outside the Box" campaign - urging folks to shop local, shop green and reduce waste and emissions and maybe even increase joy.
May we humbly suggest a Re-Leaf Honor Card - you give in honor or memory, we send a card to your loved one with thanks for helping plant forever forests in MoCo (5000 trees...and counting!)

Opt Outside is a campaign by outdoor retailer REI to urge families to spend their holiday time outside instead of at the mall on Black Friday. As they did for the first time in 2015, their website will go dark, their fulfillment center will go silent as their employees spend the day outside. Visit Montgomery County's amazing parks this weekend.

Small Business Saturday is November 26th this year- skip the mall and enjoy your local retailers that keep your money close to home and enrich your community. Farmers are the oldest small business there is. You might want to check out a year round farm and artisan market. Or visit an on-farm brewery or winery.  

Thrive 2050, the update to the general plan meant to guide land use in the County for the coming decades, had its final vote at the Council at the end of October and was unanimously passed.

Thrive, through there were some efforts to address its problems in the weeks before the vote, remains flawed  in a number of concerning ways. 
Undergirding it is the view of densification as a panacea for all problems in all areas of the County, with no meaningful policy guard rails to ensure this new development is affordable for residents and beneficial for the county - be that economically, equitably or environmentally. Specifically, on water/forest/farmland protection, racial justice and more, we stand with the diverse coalition of civic groups who had been respectfully sharing concerns about both the Thrive plan and lack of transparency since the beginning - and providing compromise solutions for its improvement. 

Both Thrive's supporters and its detractors have said that the plan is only a starting point - a beginning, not an end.

The real work of Thrive starts now as a new planning board and chair of unknown tenure and a mostly new and expanded Council take office (resignations and firings at Planning). There is both challenge and opportunity where these policies meet the road. 

So now - we do as we always have… we dig in to press for transparency and public interest as the plan is rolled out. We are going to be all over this, like stormwater on pavement. 

Thanks to your support we had a seat at the table to strongly suggest changes that would strengthen the plan. Your continued support will help us mitigate the roll out of Thrive as words on a page take shape on the landscape.
​
That is where it matters - with 20 years of advocacy and your continued support- that is where we will be.  

We would be honored by your tax deductible gift this giving season. ​

How are Maryland's forests doing?
​A new comprehensive study of the state's forests has just been completed. 
This baseline information is coming at a critical time as we seek to strengthen the County Forest Conservation plan when the new Council takes office. 
The Harry Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology will host a webinar to unveil the key findings of this landmark study Wednesday, November 16, 2022 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM EST
Learn More: 

The Ag Reserve preserves many things, one of them is historical resources. Two preservation efforts were lauded at this year's Montgomery Preservation Awards in the Ag Reserve - the Montevideo Bridge  and the ongoing archeological dig at Sugarland's St Paul Community Church property - a joint project of Montgomery College and the Sugarland Ethno History Project. Learn more about Sugarland in SEHP's award winning book - I Have Started for Canaan.  

There's much more to discover about the Reserve's Rustic Roads like Montevideo - kudos to our friends at the Rustic Roads Advisory Committee. 

(Want to See the Rustic Roads up close? Join us each Fall for the Ride for the Reserve Bike Tour)
See the full presentation of the Montgomery Preservation awards here. 

MCA has signed onto a letter from the American Bird Conservancy and hundreds of local environmental and animal protection organizations across the country to strongly urge the EPA to properly regulate pesticide coated seeds.

The EPA's rule making arm has said this month that the coated seeds are exempt from something called the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) that puts proper guard rails on the use of these chemicals intended to kill pests - including careful tracking of the instances of their use and the impacts of that use. These seeds are coated in chemicals called neonicotinoids - widely known to be a factor in bee colony collapse and banned for retail sale in Maryland in 2018. 

From the letter - 97% of the pesticide coating of these seeds leave the seed and enter soil, groundwater and beyond. Exempting these seeds from the act meant to track and mitigate unintended consequences is therefore a terrible idea and has led to nearly a decade gap in data of just how much damage has been done. 

"​This loss of invertebrate life has rippling effects on ecosystems. Birds and mammals which depend on invertebrates for prey may experience massive reductions in population due to food shortages. Pollination may decrease due to pesticide-caused mortalities in pollinating insect, impacting human food supply. Normal ecosystem functions such as decomposition, soil turnover, and biological pest control may all cease."

Much more on the impact of pesticides on birds can be found on the American Bird Conservancy site here.