(ANNAPOLIS, MD)—A recent report from the Chesapeake Bay Program highlighted the loss of trees in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Across the region, while 8,307 acres of trees were planted between 2013-14 and 2017-18, more than 25,000 acres of tree canopy was lost in community areas, which the report defines as municipalities, cities, towns, and villages.
Following the release of the report, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Maryland Office Staff Attorney Matt Stegman issued this statement:
“This report demonstrates that in Maryland’s fastest-growing counties we are losing forest cover. Trees and forests provide immense benefits to local communities, including reducing pollution to local waterways, sequestering carbon to help mitigate the effects of climate change, and providing shade to cool urban and suburban areas.
“CBF successfully pushed for recent updates to Maryland’s Forest Conservation Act, and we hope this report will be a wake-up call for local jurisdictions to target reforestation projects and policy solutions in places most rapidly losing canopy.”
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Editor’s note: the Bay Program release with links to the report can be found at:
Tree cover declines throughout watershed while impervious surfaces increase (chesapeakebay.net)
