Letters to the Editor
Volume VII Number 22
June 3-9, 1999

Praise for New Bay Crimes

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

I loved your April Fool's piece [State House Snatched! New Bay Crimes Exclusive]; it was a stitch. Many thanks for helping us promote Lord Baltimore's capital. Keep up the good work.

-Karin B. Stanford, Historic St. Mary's City Commission

More Good Words on Trees

Dear New Bay Times~Weekly:

Congratulations.

My hat is off to you for celebrating your sixth anniversary by sponsoring an event celebrating trees.

I'm proud to say that the Department of Natural Resources-Forest Service and American Forests have been partnering on a number of forestry issues in the Bay area, including Gov. Parris Glendening's Stream ReLeaf forest stream-side buffer initiative with a goal to plant 600 miles of buffers by the year 2010. Additionally, we have worked with American Forests in conjunction with Maryland's Tributary Strategy Teams on tree planting projects as well as a variety of other urban forestry issues.

In the Commentary section of your publication May 13-19, I was interested in the words and thoughts of Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, about the many important values of trees and forests. I live in nearby Tracey's Landing and go by her property quite often. I certainly can vouch for her love of the property and the care she has given to it.

The Letter to the Editor by Bert Shaffner of Owings was especially appropriate in an issue that devoted so much space to trees. Mr. Shaffner spoke about the uses of trees, which is an often overlooked value of forests. Our forests produce many products that we all use on a daily basis, from the paper stock New Bay Times is printed on to the lumber to build homes to the wooden decks on which so many of us cook our barbecues using charcoal briquettes made from wood.

The amazing thing about forests is that they can be managed to produce all these products and still provide food, shelter and shade for fish and wildlife, act as filters for storm-water run-off, take up carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Trees are working for us 24 hours a day, and in the Bay region especially, trees and forests are the solution to non-point source pollution.

This renewable resource that provides so, so many benefits is certainly the preferred land use to the many alternatives. Even forests where forest products are harvested in the proper way with advise from professional foresters continue to benefit society and the 130,000 individual forest landowners in Maryland who own 90 percent of our state's 2.7 million acres of forest land.

These forest landowners are under immense pressure to sell their property to developers. It is critical that we continue to provide them with incentives so that they can voluntarily retain their woods for all the social, environmental and economic benefits that the forests of our state and region provide.

Thanks for your coverage of trees and forests and for sponsoring such a great event as your Trees for the Bay Bash.

-Jim Mallow, Director and State Forester, Maryland Forest Service