COMMENTS WERE DUE by November 16.
DRAFT Maryland Forest Action Plan: Assessment, Strategy, and Forest Legacy Program Assessment of Need
The Draft 2020 Maryland Statewide Forest Action Plan has three components: Statewide Forest Assessment, 5-Year Strategy, and Maryland’s Assessment of Need for its Forest Legacy Program for conserving working forests. The Action Plan documents outline major issues and areas of activity for Maryland Forest Service and a wide variety of partners. The Plan is used to inform decisions about current state investments and activities, and guides priorities for pursuing additional funding needed for many of the proposed actions. State Forest Action Plans are required by the federal Farm Bill, and USDA Forest Service grants require references to Forest Action Plan priorities.
The Maryland Forest Assessment provides current data on forest conditions, background on major threats facing the state’s forests. It identifies priority areas across the rural to urban spectrum, including important multi-state priority areas. 
Click here to download the Maryland Forest Assessment.
The Strategy is informed by the conditions and priority areas in the Assessment, and identifies existing and potential action items to meet major issues facing the state’s forests. The time frame is focused on actions in the next five to ten years, with an eye towards outcomes that may takes multiple decades to achieve at the scales needed. Click here to download the Maryland Forest Strategy.
The Forest Legacy Program Assessment of Need is now a required part of the Forest Action Plans and is incorporated by reference for Maryland’s Plan. This document and mapping guides Maryland’s applications to the voluntary federal land conservation program. Only properties within Forest Legacy Areas are eligible for the nationally competitive program. Click here to download the Maryland Forest Legacy Assessment of Need.
Maryland used input from the Maryland Forest Stewardship Committee, Maryland Wildlife Action Plan, six listening sessions around the state, and many other stakeholders to revise the MD Forest Action Plan for the 2020 revisions.
Learn More
Maryland State Forest Action Plan Overview
State Forest Action Plan Webinar Video
