We are concerned with the plans to cut timber from the Blue Bike Trail forest (P-25-S-05). This forty-five acre forest is close to one hundred years old. It has been growing since long before the area was owned by the state. It has a diverse mix of trees including American beech, white oak, willow oak, dogwood, sassafras, and fourteen others. The beautiful loblolly pines are in their prime and many could live for another hundred years if left alone. They do not dominate the forest, but instead are a part of the forest community that naturally occurs on the lower Eastern Shore. This complex tree community supports over thirty bird species, many of them neotropical migrants and forest-interior dwelling birds. Cutting timber on this parcel will fragment the forest, negatively affecting the bird species; it will open areas to invasive plant spread; and ruin the healthy recreational experiences of hikers, bikers, and disabled hunters. 

Every year citizens of the Eastern Shore comment on the annual work plans asking that these small, yet special, older forests be removed from harvest plans. We do not ask for much, last year it was the removal of only 121 acres from silvicultural prescription. This year it is only 45 acres out of the 1,770 acres planned for management. Yet, every year the management of the Eastern Region State Forest Lands has been unresponsive to our comments, and the cuts have proceeded as if citizen comments do not matter at all. We have already lost many beautiful old forests because of this. We do not want to lose any more. The Blue Bike Trail forest is in the category of “mixed pine/ hardwood, uneven aged.” There is only 187 acres of that type of forest left (0.2%). 

Of the 94,000 acres owned by the state on the Shore, most of it is young (16-50 year old), industrially managed, sort-rotation loblolly pine. We have not objected to the abundant commercial (strip) thinning of the pine plantations that comprise most of the Chesapeake Forest Lands, or the “regeneration” harvests (clear-cuts with a few spindly trees left). We understand that these are multi-use forests and that the state is concerned about keeping the timber industry alive on the Shore. While we appreciate the needs of the logging community and recognize the economic value of their work, these small, older, tracts do not represent a significant contribution (or loss) to the acres of harvestable timber in the plans. We also recognize that the timber industry cannot, and should not, depend heavily on the cutting of public forests. Three-quarters of the forests in Maryland are owned by private citizens, they should not have to compete for pricing with timber being removed from state lands.

Given the global, national, and local decline in biodiversity; and the global, national, and local increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses, we feel that our public state forests should remain standing, as much as possible, to counteract both threats. Especially the older forests, such as the one surrounding the Blue Bike Trail. We believe that recreation, wildlife, and air quality should be as important, or more important, than a narrow private, commercial, industry.

The excuses given by the MD DNR Forest Service for cutting these precious old forests: such as “increasing early successional habitat,” “resilience,” “health,” “sustainability,” “desired conditions,” “climate-smart forestry,” should all be recognized as the chimera that they are – extracting dollars from our forests with no consideration for citizen input or the many organisms that live in the forests.

We ask that you respect citizen input and remove P-25-S-05 from the 2025 Annual Work Plan as we have been requesting.

Thank you for your time and sincere consideration. 

Respectfully,

Friends of Maryland Forests