Abingdon Woods is a beautiful and important ecosystem in Harford County, Maryland. Despite this, the county’s Development Advisory Board (DAC) has approved the destruction of 326 acres of this mature forest in the Bush River Watershed. The headwaters of the Haha Branch and a large portion of the stream flow through this forest, and the mature trees and wetlands filter the water flowing to the Chesapeake Bay. The Maryland Department of the Environment has said that every tributary flowing into the Chesapeake is critically important to help manage the massive levels of water pollution, and protect the Bay.

While Abingdon Woods is a crucial part of protecting the Bay, this beautiful forest also improves the quality of life for county residents. This forest is in the middle of a residential area, and directly adjacent to an elementary school. The current pandemic has highlighted the importance of having access to the outdoors. Sadly, many residents living in the development envelope don’t have access to trails or the luxury of open space. They can’t “social distance” without standing in a parking lot or keeping their kids indoors all day. In this time of crisis, Harford County’s decision to turn this incredibly beautiful and ecologically important forest into parking lots and warehouses is both horrifying and irresponsible. Worse still, it will be paved over to build more large warehouses and parking lots in the middle of a residential area along Route 40, where there are currently 18 existing vacant warehouses in Joppatowne alone.

This forest in the Bush River watershed is crucial for water quality, provides essential habitat, regulates the climate, cleans the air and is essential to the wellbeing and safety of the citizens within the development envelope, who deserve open space too. The county council and county administration have ignored their own county planners who identified the Abingdon Forest as “a Core Forest which should be protected and preserved”, as part of Harford County’s Green Infrastructure Plan.

So who is doing this? The property is owned by the Chesapeake Real Estate Group, led by former Maryland Secretary of Transportation James Lighthizer. The proposed development plan has been allowed to proceed because of the questionable practices of the Harford County Council, led by County Executive Barry Glassman. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is currently challenging the County’s approval of the forestry management plan, which is completely inadequate. A local group, Harford County Climate Action, is raising money to file an injunction to try to prevent the County from rushing the destruction of the forest to avoid a court ruling.

We are asking the Harford County Council, and specifically County Executive Barry Glassman, to act now to stop this destruction. The Council can ensure that no action is taken to destroy the site while court cases proceed. But more importantly, there are numerous funding sources available to preserve the site. We urge the County to use Open Source funding to purchase the site from the Chesapeake Real Estate Group, and turn it into a public park.

Check out the GoFundMe page set up by Harford County Climate Action to pay for the court costs of the injunction, and see the video put together by residents and activists: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-abingdon-woods?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet