Planning &
Community
Development -
Forest Conservation Ordinance
Washington County
Forest Conservation Ordinance Amendments
In 1991, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Maryland Forest Conservation
Act due to the loss of forest cover to urbanized development. The
Act required that all of the counties in the state with less than 200,000
acres of forest cover must adopt an ordinance to address the issue of forest
conservation through identification and protection of existing forest, and
establishment of new forest in the development review process.
The Forest Conservation Ordinance establishes options for remediation which include: on-site retention or planting, off-site retention or planting, natural regeneration, and payment-in-lieu of planting or retention. The County, in cooperation with the Washington Soil Conservation District, has successfully developed a program where the payment-in-lieu of planting funds are used for easement purchases and plantings in sensitive environmental areas. The collected funds provide the opportunity to plant and then protect, by easement, large contiguous areas of forest rather than promote small-scattered forested areas in order to enhance optimum benefit to the environment.
The Washington County Forest Conservation Ordinance is available online under “view county ordinances” located on The Planning Department home page. The County also relies on the Maryland State Technical Manual for specific details on Forest Conservation Procedures. The State Manual is available in hard copy format from the Planning Department.
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Page Modified
7/22/09 2:16 PM