Forests of the Northern United States

“The first step in knowing where you are going is to assess exactly where you are."

“Forests of the Northern United States,” a report recently produced by the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station, creates a snapshot of the forested land, both public and private, which covers 172 million acres, or 42 percent of the land area, in the nation’s most densely forested and most densely populated corner of the nation.

The twenty states that make up the U.S. North are bounded by Maine, Maryland, Missouri, and Minnesota. Compared to the rest of the country, the North has a higher population density, relatively little public forest land, and many private forest owners with small forest tracts. Fifty-five percent of northern forest land belongs to nearly 5 million family forest owners.

Learn more about this important report and download a copy by going to: http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/40219

Maryland's Forests

Maryland’s Forests 2008 displays the condition and status of forests in Maryland as obtained and reported by the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (NRS-FIA) program. Previous inventories of Maryland’s forest resources were completed in 1950, 1964, 1976, 1986, and 1999. This report focuses on data collected from 2004 to 2008

• Forward by Steven W. Koehn, State Forester/Director, Maryland DNR Forest Service
• Maryland's Forests 2008 (pdf 12 MB)
• Maryland's Forests, 2008: Statistics, Methods, and Quality Assurance (pdf 1.26 MB) Includes information on sampling techniques, estimation procedures, tables of population estimates, raw data, data summarization tool and glossary.

2013 Arbor Day Poster Contest

The Maryland Forest Service along with the Maryland Forestry Boards is proud to sponsor the 2013 5th Grade Arbor Day Poster Contest. Please click here to get the rules and submission dates for the contest.

Attention Forest Product Operators

If you hold a Forest Products Operators license, or are thinking about getting one, then take note of recent regulatory amendments made to licensing requirements and what you need to do to stay compliant. The regulation defines licensing requirements, specifies criteria for violable actions, and provides a process for license revocation or suspension. The application fee is now $30 for the annual license. This link provides a copy of the amended regulations as they appeared in the September 9, 2011 issue of the Maryland Register.

Trees in Maryland Coupon

ORV Trail Status

Effective immediately, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has permanently closed three of the State’s off-road vehicle (ORV) trails; the Green Ridge Trail at Green Ridge State Forest, Chandler Trail at Pocomoke State Forest, and Poplar Lick Trail at Savage River State Forest. These trails had been temporarily closed pending the results of a forest certification audit. The decision is based on the results of environmental assessments conducted by the Department and the results of our recent forest certification audit. That audit completed last week is part of the State’s effort to receive dual certification for all three western Maryland State Forests — a move that will protect the $950 million western Maryland forest products industry, which employs 9,200 people. Click here to learn more and to locate ORV Trails that remain open for public use.

Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine

The EAB quarantine area has been extended, for complete details see the Quarantine Order. For more information regarding EAB please visit the following DNR web site: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/dnrnews/infocus/emerald_ash_borer.asp
or visit the Maryland Department of Agriculture web site: http://www.mda.state.md.us/plants-pests/eab/

Buying Firewood

We get many calls from people either with questions about buying their seasons supply of firewood or what they can do after recently purchasing wood they were less than happy with. There are a few things you should know about wood and the laws regarding selling firewood that will help you make the best decision when making your firewood purchase.
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