Take Action: Urge the Council to Pass a Strong Forest Conservation Plan

Update (11/23): In line with the stronger forest conservation law, the Council has been supportive of a much needed increase in the fees developers pay for disturbing street trees and forest canopies. MCA signed onto a supportive letter with local civic partners here. 

Montgomery County is in the midst of updating their Forest Conservation Plan. The revision in front of the Council is an opportunity to enshrine protections for trees throughout the County. MCA and our partners at the MoCo Forest Coalition support provisions that will make the law even stronger - specifically on protections for existing forests. Take a moment  to write to the Council in support of this refined legislation. 

Montgomery County Women's Democratic Club has weighed in to support strong forest protections: 

Read on for stories of what forests mean to MoCo residents. If you have a forest story to share please get in touch - [email protected]

A few minutes of you time… a short video, photos and your words to urge the County Council to act now to protect our invaluable forests!

Montgomery County Lost More than 1,000 acres of forest in the past decade. What do forests (and their loss) mean to MoCo Residents? 

The Montgomery County Planning Board and Council are updating the Forest Conservation Plan. The MoCo Forest Coalition of which we are proud to be a part has been pushing for much stronger policies - including a no-net-loss provision. Here we feature the stories from residents about the forests they hold dear.
Urban trees work particularly hard, check out this cool interactive urban tree canopy presentation. 
​Care to share your forest story? - [email protected]

• "This past weekend, neighbors invited folks over to their remarkable 25 acre property - mostly in mature native forest. The variety of trees and understory plants, many in bloom, is truly remarkable. So too is the great variety of insects, birds, and other forest life that make this place home. Our family could not enter it unmoved. The effect of our time spent in the forest is both restorative and lasting. " - C.T

• Off the back corner of the meadow there's something numinous in the woods. Over an impenetrable thicket of briar and bramble I can make out a clearing in the trees, an area of light in the shade. Local folks call it "the swamp." I've hiked around its periphery, but there doesn't seem to be a way in, for humans, through the thick shroud of winterberry holly that encircles it. The bow hunters tell of deer vanshining into the green mist of leaves, untrackable. Heron, Hawk, and Woodpecker emanate from this space like it's a portal to a bird universe. Frog calls ring out from its center and echo through the woods at dusk. "The swamp is ah-liiive!" exclaims my neighbor in a buttery Virginia drawl. I have to agree with him. It's good to know these places still exist, wellsprings of life and regeneration.

Wib Middleton

• "We live in Poolesville.  A newly sold property in a conversation easement 1 is being altered.  Today 15 trucks/cars and approximately 25 people showed up.  They have cleared out trees, bushes etc in the easement.  The owner of the property is aware of the easement but  is disregarding it. " - P

• "I’ve written the Council many times about the destruction of our forests, particularly the one on my own street, that is across from the Canal National park.  New people are moving in and not respecting the forest we live in. Every time I hear the saws and the chippers my heart sinks. One family chopped off the tops of 10 trees to get more sun on their pool. These stripped, silent sentinels call out for regulation. I painted the tree. I am honoring its spirit. "  - AB

• "Three large healthy trees were cut down on my street in Kensington to add a new portion of sidewalk.  Sad." - T.C

W. Willard Rd Pepco Tree Cutting

• Newly released data from the Chesapeake Conservancy and Chesapeake Bay Program show that Carroll County has gained about as much forest as it has lost to development in recent years. But over the same time span, Montgomery County lost 660 acres of forest to newly constructed roads, rooftops and lawns, while adding only 100 acres - a major net loss. Another 1,800 acres of forest in Montgomery were fragmented or otherwise impacted by development, making them more vulnerable to invasive vines, deer, and other threats.
  
  

• Over the decade aggressive tree pruning and removal practices on the part of utility companies have angered residents both up and down county. A bill to bring more control back to the County government in demanding best vegetation practices did not pass last year as sponsors cited insurmountable pushback from utility companies. A brief history of resident complaints and a bill fact sheet. 

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You can speak for the trees of MoCo - the Council will be working on the Forest Conservation Law in the coming weeks. We need no-net-loss and also a net gain of forests. To make this provision as strong as oak the Council needs to hear from you. The MoCo Forest Coalition released an Op-Ed in Bethesda Beat "Montgomery Must Update and Strengthen Outdated Forest Protections"

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More on Trees:

• Re-Leaf the Reserve - How MCA is planting forever forests
• Re-Leaf the Reserve Honor Cards - Give a Thoughtful Gift that Grows
• The extent to which trees in a forest help each other will blow your mind

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