[Tree Canopy]: 3 Things Need To Know About the Forest Conservation Plan / by Admin

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Trees In Our Urban Area

It is counterintuitive when people think of conserving trees in urban areas. As trees, forests, or even savanna landscapes evoke our longing for prospect and openness. In many ways, our craving for outdoor nature was based on the ideology lingering in the nineteenth-century notion that the city is a toxic and unnatural environment.

This article discussed the correlation between tree coverage and neighborhood income distribution. Here, we can take a closer look at Montgomery County's Forest Conservation Plan requirements and the decisions behind that plan.

1. Why Does A Project Need A Forest Conservation Plan?

The Forest Conservation Plan is one of the requirements mandated by the Forest Conservation Law. It is the creation after the Forest Conservation Act. This Act can be traced back to 1991 when Governor Schaeffer created a Task Force to assess the problem and the potential of Maryland's trees and forests to promote land stewardship. One recommendation from the Task Force was to make a law to conserve, protect and restore the state's forestry resources. Its goal was to minimize the loss of forest resources during land development and protect other sensitive areas as an integral part of the site planning process.

During the first 15 years of implementing the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), the department has reviewed 199,925 acres of projects. 60% of the acreage was retained, 36% was cleared, and 21,461 acres of land were planted with new trees. In 2012, the Sustainable Forestry Council of the Department of Natural Resources updated its recommendation and envisioned Maryland will sustain the land cover at 40% by 2020 with the new implementation.  

2. Will This Law Apply To Your Project?

In general, projects that require an application for a subdivision, grading permit, or sediment control permit on areas of 40,000 square feet or more are subject to the Forest Conservation Act and required to submit a Forest Conservation Plan. Montgomery County has provided flow charts “general decision” and “single-lot decision” for project candidates to make decisions easier. You can also find application instructions here.

3. Terms In The Chapter 22A-Tree

Chapter 22A is called the local Forest Conservation Law in Montgomery County. While you dive in to see if your project meets these requirements, I would like to highlight a few terms here for your consideration. 

Conservation Threshold Vs. Required Afforestation 

"Forest Conservation Threshold" means the percentage of the net tract area at which the reforestation requirement changes from a ratio of ¼ acre planted for every acre removed to a ratio of 2 acres planted for every acre removed.

"Required Afforestation" is for a site with less than 20 percent of the net tract area in forest cover. The site must be afforested under the required afforestation percentages shown in the table in the subsection. 

Most of the commercial/residential and employment zones (CR, CRT, EOF, LSC) that will be covered here belongs to Mixed-Use or Commercial Land Use, and there is a 15% afforestation threshold and 15-20% of conservation threshold that need to comply.

Forest Vs. Tree Cover

People often have this misconception that Forest and Tree Cover (or Tree Canopy) can be used interchangeably. But if we pay attention to the term definition in Chapter 22 A, we would understand the differences. 

"Forest" means a biological community dominated by trees and other woody plants on a land area of more than 10,000 square feet and at least 50 feet wide. It also includes the area (maybe less than 50 feet wide) with at least 100 live trees, and half of their breast height (DBH) diameter is 2 inches or greater. But most importantly, the forest does not include orchards. 

On the other hand, "Tree cover" has a broader definition than "Forest."

"Tree Cover" means the combined area, in square feet, of the crowns of all trees on a tract. In other words, Tree Canopy is any area covered by trees when viewed from above. That includes forests, trees in a yard or park, trees in an urban setting, orchards, or other agricultural operations that may occur below. For replanting purposes, "tree cover is the typical crown area for the specific tree of 20 years." 

Based on Montgomery County's Incentive Density Implementation Guidelines, tree coverage needs to be calculated for the projects aiming to get an incentive density of 7.5 points for the development. This tree coverage calculation is based on 75 % of 20-year canopy coverage under the MNPPC Tree Technical Manual.

Last reminder, in Chapter 22A, the authors do not use the term "diameter at breast height "(DBH), yet this is equivalent to '"diameter at 4.5 feet above the ground "in the language used in Chapter 22A.

First published:3/02/2021, update: 4/3/2023

What other benefit of preserving the forests?

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