Potomac Watershed Forestry Update

Submitted by Larry Maxim,
Maryland Forest Service
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The Potomac Watershed Forestry staff—made up of Maryland DNR Forest Service employees—focuses its energies on water quality issues within the targeted improvement areas of Washington and Frederick Counties.  Potomac Watershed Forestry involves many facets of forestry, including: land management, reforestation, agriculture, invasive species, pesticides, public relations and more. The ultimate goal of the team is to improve water quality to the benefit of the Chesapeake Bay and its many resources.  It has been busy this spring for staff members Larry Maxim and Chuck Harris.

Buffer Monitoring
We all know that planting streamside buffers improves water quality, but only if the trees and shrubs survive over time.  Therefore, an ongoing responsibility of the Potomac Watershed Forestry staff is to determine how buffers change over time.  Buffer monitoring started back in 2001 when permanent study plots were established. These study plots run 250 feet along and 100 feet back from the stream (about ½ acre in size).  Ten of these plots are visited yearly. Information on woody and herbaceous vegetation, grasses, herbs, and invasive species is collected.  The height, overall vigor, and survival of planted trees within the buffer is measured.  In addition, the same cross section of the stream channel is precisely measured in one foot intervals.  All of this information is collected to determine how the buffers have changed and developed since establishment.

Staff measuring a stream crossing during monitoring.

Forest Brigade Buffer Planting
This past spring, the Watershed Staff assisted the Forest Brigade in planting 55 acres of buffer plantings at the Albert Powell Fish Hatchery and 48 acres at Ft. Frederick St. Park in Washington County. An additional 50 acres of trees were planted at the Monocacy Natural Resource Management Area in Frederick County.  Forest Brigade Plantings involve the use of inmate labor to plant and shelter seedlings, providing cost- effective reforestation.  Forestry staff provides technical expertise, support, and guidance.

Miscellaneous
A variety of other issues caught our attention this spring as well.  In response to the devastating impact the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) has had at Cunningham Falls State Park, a proposal was submitted to mitigate the negative impacts of this pest in the streamside zone by planting a mix of alternative tree species and using the project as a demonstration/education area.  Closely aligned with the HWA project is a study at the Western MD Research and Education Center (WMREC) at Keedysville in which we’re testing the survival of several conifer species in the presence of heavy deer browse while being released by both mechanical and chemical means. 

We also held a day long recertification at the WMREC facility for those holding pesticide applicators certifications and over fifty attended.

We’re assisting the City of Frederick in the management of their approximately 6,000 acre watershed property and have been busy marking a timber sale area for harvest through competitive bidding. A number of seedlings have been planted in areas damaged by gypsy moth caterpillars. 

We again organized the Backyard Buffer program in Frederick County and gave out over eighty bundles of mixed tree seedlings to cooperators. Along the lines of new initiatives, we were also actively involved in the first Neighborhood Green Program which encourages and assists owners of smaller properties in planting trees for their many benefits.

 (Yes, it has been a busy and productive season for the Watershed Forestry staff!)