Forestry Workgroup
The Forestry Workgroup coordinates, develops and implements plans and projects that focus on the contributions of forest lands in restoring the health and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and in retaining their economic potential.
Upcoming Meetings
Forestry Workgroup Meeting - March 2025
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 from 9:00am - 11:00amForestry Workgroup Meeting - April 2025
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 from 9:00am - 11:00amForestry Workgroup Meeting - May 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 from 9:00am - 11:00amScope and Purpose
The Forestry Workgroup coordinates, develops and implements plans and projects that focus on the contributions of forest lands in restoring the health and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and in retaining their economic potential. The workgroup provides a forum to discuss issues and identify opportunities among the forestry community, interested individuals and organizations, and federal, state and local governments.
Objectives:
- Enhance communication and education regarding forestry issues within the Bay watershed.
- Identify the need and opportunities for demonstration projects and program development.
- Promote the establishment and management of forests and trees in urban, rural and developing areas to improve water quality and aquatic and terrestrial habitats associated with the Bay and its tributaries.
- Promote forestry research and monitoring needed to evaluate forest contributions toward protection and restoration of the Bay.
- Ensure forest resource information pertinent to the Bay is available to individuals and organizations interested and/or involved in implementing the Chesapeake Bay Program.
The Forestry Workgroup is also pursuing the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement goal and outcomes to:
Vital Habitats Goal: Restore, enhance and protect a network of land and water habitats to support fish and wildlife and to afford other public benefits, including water quality, recreational uses and scenic value across the watershed.
- Forest Buffer Outcome: Continually increase the capacity of forest buffers to provide water quality and habitat benefits throughout the watershed. Restore 900 miles per year of riparian forest buffer and conserve existing buffers until at least 70 percent of riparian areas throughout the watershed are forested.
- Tree Canopy Outcome: Continually increase urban tree canopy capacity to provide air quality, water quality and habitat benefits throughout the watershed. Expand urban tree canopy by 2,400 acres by 2025.
Projects and Resources
New Member Guide
Timber Harvest Task Force Recommendations for Phase 7 Model Development
The Timber Harvest Task Force was convened by the Forestry Workgroup and Land Use Workgroup to improve the mapping and modeling of forest harvest activities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Task Force identified multiple opportunities to improve modeling of water quality impacts of forest harvesting in the Phase 7 Modeling Tools. These recommendations for the forest harvesting BMPs and the technical appendix were accepted by the Watershed Technical Workgroup and the Water Quality Goal Implementation Team (GIT).
Phase 7 Model Development
Currently in development, the Phase 7 Modeling Tools will be used by the partnership to inform decisions related to the nutrient and sediment reduction goals outlined in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
Evolving plans and related documents can be found on the Chesapeake Bay Program's Phase 7 Model Development webpage.
State of Chesapeake Forests 2.0
In October 2023, the Chesapeake Bay Program released the State of Chesapeake Forests 2.0 Storymap as a follow-up to the 2006 State of Chesapeake Forests report. The Storymap utilizes the Bay Program’s new high-resolution land use and land use change data to provide an updated understanding of Chesapeake forests and how they are changing.
Strategy Development for Innovative Finance of Riparian Forest Buffer Programs
The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Chesapeake Bay Program, developed an innovative financing strategy to incentivize greater riparian forest buffer planting to meet the Forest Buffers goal in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The proposed Riparian Forest Buffer Outcomes Fund would help overcome barriers and create new incentives to plant more buffers.
Publications
Forestry Workgroup BMP Verification Guidance
Published on May 1, 2018This section describes guidance on how to verify the existence and performance of forestry BMPs in the Bay watershed. It has been revised since the 2014 version to incorporate comments and also to reflect the high-resolution imagery data that has become available.
View detailsWIP Forestry BMP Packet
The Forestry Workgroup created “A Guide for Forestry Practices in Chesapeake TMDL” to help localities, conservation agencies, community groups, states, and others planning and implementing best management practices (BMPs) during the Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) process. Forests are the best land use for protecting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and forest BMPs are some of the most cost-effective for Bay restoration. This guide will show the value of forest retention and tree plantings, convey information about the various forest BMPs in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model, and provide examples of forest BMP scenarios in the Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool (CAST) to show partners what information is available, where to find it, and how to use it.
View detailsRiparian Forest Buffer Management Strategy
Published on January 1, 2018This management strategy identifies approaches for achieving the following outcome: Continually increase the capacity of forest buffers to provide water quality and habitat benefits throughout the watershed. Restore 900 miles per year of riparian forest buffer and conserve existing buffers until 70 percent of riparian areas throughout the watershed are forested.
View detailsWatershed Agreement
Vital Habitats Goal
Members
Anne Hairston-Strang (Chair), Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: anne.hairston-strang@maryland.gov
Phone: (410) 260-8509
Kesha Braunskill (Chair), U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
Katie Brownson (Coordinator), Watershed Specialist, U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
Marilyn Yang (Staffer), Healthy Watersheds Goal Implementation Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Frank Rodgers, Cacapon Institute
Cacapon Institute
10 Rock Ford Rd
Great Cacapon, West Virginia 25422
Email: frodgers@cacaponinstitute.org
Craig Highfield, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Suite 209
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: chighfield@allianceforthebay.org
Phone: (410) 267-5723
Alexis Dickerson, Potomac Conservancy
Matthew Keefer, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR)
Lauren Townley, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Julie Mawhorter, U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
151 Grey Towers Dr.
Milford, Pennsylvania 18337
Email: julie.mawhorter@usda.gov
Phone: (570) 296-9626
Caitlin Verdu, Virginia Department of Forestry
Virginia Department of Forestry 900 Natural Resources Drive
Suite 800
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Email: caitlin.verdu@dof.virginia.gov
Terrance Lasher, Virginia Department of Forestry
Virginia Department of Forestry 900 Natural Resources Drive
Suite 800
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Email: terry.lasher@dof.virginia.gov
Jeremy McGill, West Virginia Division of Forestry
61 5th Street
Building 1 Suite 201
Buckhannon, West Virginia 26201
Email: Jeremy.R.McGill@wv.gov