Maryland State Forester outlines UTC role in public-private/urban-rural state-wide tree cover strategy; Maryland

Carroll County Times: Westminster, Maryland: "Maryland wants a future filled with forests
By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer Sunday, May 10, 2009
Kyle Nosal/Staff Photo
Dozens of volunteers help Carroll County Boy Scout troops plant trees at Freedom Park in Sykesville April 25.
Trees aren’t just nice to look at. They store carbon and release oxygen. They provide shade, keeping areas cooler. And their roots hold soil and nutrients in place so that they don’t pollute local waterways.
Maryland has 2.6 million acres of trees, and that’s where state officials want to keep it.
“We’d like to keep everything that we’ve got, but that means we need to work with others because obviously, as new properties are being bought and sold and new houses are going in, you will have trees being impacted by new construction,” said Steve Koehn, state forester."
A large portion of the No Net Loss of Forest Act, passed in the 2009 Maryland General Assembly, deals specifically with urban tree canopy, which applies not only to true urban areas but municipalities and suburbs as well.
Having those municipalities get on board is great, Koehn said, but it is still important to have individuals, no matter where they live, plant and care for trees on their land.