Something was missing atop the hundreds of chestnut oaks sweeping Oregon Ridge Park in Baltimore County this year: leaves.
This autumn, the usually golden foliage of the 900 century-old trees succumbed to an untreated gypsy moth infestation, officials said. The problem is one of several identified in Baltimore County?s first annual “State of Our Forests” report released Monday at the park as national forest experts gathered to discuss preservation of local woodlands.
The county loses more than 245 acres of forests each year to development, according to the report. The county?s forests are broken up into more than 9,000 patches ? ranging from 45 square feet to 4,500 acres ? and are further fragmented by 50,000 or more private owners.
“We learned that too many deer are eating forest seedlings,” County Executive Jim Smith said. “Pests such as gypsy moths are taking a toll and trees are naturally dying off without being replaced.”
Top federal forestry experts at a three-day forum commended the county for its forest management. Baltimore County was selected in 2001 as a national pilot for a forest data-collection and goal-setting tool and is working with federal agencies to educate other states on the process.
“We are hoping we can broaden the success Baltimore County is having,” said Joel Holtrop, deputy chief of the U.S. Forest System. “Nothing breeds success like success.”
Several county initiatives are already yielding results, said Donald Outen, the county?s natural resource manager. For example, $10 coupons for trees at local nurseries recently distributed by the county brought an average $19 return in private spending, he said.
The county plans to host follow-up workshops to share its strategies with Maryland?s other counties, he said.
“Most of the other Maryland counties don?t know someone else has already invested this money and has collected the data they can use,” Outen said.
