​ Forest History
Forest Resources
Plum Creek Natural Area
Fire-Dependent Ecosystems

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Forest History​

Elk Neck State Forest has a long history of agriculture, timber use, fire, and forest recovery. European settlers cleared portions of the area for agriculture in the early 1700s, but many of the soils were difficult to farm because of sand, gravel, or clay content. As agriculture declined, the area reforested and was repeatedly cut over to provide charcoal and other wood products for nearby iron furnaces.

​The State acquired a major portion of the forest in 1936 through a gift from Jane Francis Mallen. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp operated on the Black Hill Tract in the late 1930s. CCC crews completed road, trail, and boundary work on the forest and also helped develop Elk Neck State Park farther south on the Elk Neck Peninsula.

Forest Resources​

Elk Neck State Forest includes mixed deciduous and evergreen forest across a varied landscape. Dry upland areas support pitch pine, Virginia pine, loblolly pine, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, and white oak. Lower slopes and stream bottoms support larger hardwoods, including tulip poplar, sweetgum, white oak, red oak, and red maple.

The forest’s upland soils are generally dry and gravelly, and repeated fires have shaped forest conditions over time. Along Plum and Mill creeks, where soils are moister and fires were less severe, trees tend to be larger and of higher quality. These differences in soils, fire history, and moisture help explain the range of forest types found across Elk Neck State Forest.

Although Elk Neck’s upland soils can limit timber quality and growth, the forest provides important habitat, watershed protection, recreation, and ecological restoration opportunities in central Cecil County. Large, relatively unbroken blocks of mature forestland make Elk Neck a distinctive public forest in this part of Maryland.

Plum Creek Natural Area

The Plum Creek Natural Area protects nearly 500 acres within the Elk Neck Peninsula. The area is accessed by old logging roads and includes pitch pine, native oaks, huckleberries, blueberries, spring wildflowers, skinks, and other wildlife.

Plum Creek also includes seepage wetlands and vernal pools that provide habitat for amphibians, dragonflies, reptiles, and other species tied to both upland and wetland conditions. The mix of dry forest and wetland features makes this area one of the most distinctive natural resource areas within Elk Neck State Forest.

Fire-Dependent Ecosystems

Elk Neck State Forest contains fire-dependent pitch pine and oak ecosystems. The Maryland Forest Service, working with the Maryland Natural Heritage Program, is restoring nearly 1,700 acres of pitch pine and oak forest by reintroducing fire as an ecological management tool.

Pitch pine is adapted to survive fire with thick bark and the ability to resprout from the trunk. Fire can also help pitch pine reproduce by opening cones and reducing competing hardwood growth. In these systems, prescribed fire supports restoration by maintaining the conditions that pitch pine and associated oak communities need to persist over time. ​

​Management of fire-dependent ecosystems is intended to protect sensitive natural communities while improving forest structure, species composition, and long-term ecological resilience.