Paul H. Seward, Supervisor Fire Control
Eugene Bowers, Supt. I, Elk Neck State Park
Guy Wells, Park Supt. II, The Rocks State Park

The Commission of Forests and Parks consists of five members
appointed by the Governor. One is recommended by the Maryland
Farm Bureau and one by the Maryland State Grange; one must have
had practical experience in the lumbering business; and two must have
an interest in the advancement of State parks and recreation. The
members serve for five-year terms with overlapping tenure of office.
They select their chairman and appoint the Director of the Department
of Forests and Parks (Code 1967, Art. 66C, sees. 343-44).

A forestry department was first organized in 1906 under the State
Board of Forestry, but was succeeded in 1941 by the present Depart-
ment, which is associated with the Board of Natural Resources. The
Department of Forests and Parks administers the tree marketing
program under which woodland owners who plan to dispose of their
timber may secure a free marking service to yield maximum return
in saw timber and other forest products while making due provision
for a sustained yield of successive timber crops. The Department
licenses all persons engaged in cutting and selling timber. To supple-
ment the timber-cropping program and provide adequate planting
stock for reforestation, the State maintains a nursery with a potential
capacity of ten million trees. The Department also administers the
Forest Conservancy Districts Act designed to ensure the practice of
forestry on privately owned woodlands throughout the State (Code
1967, Art. 66C, sees. 343-410). The district foresters of the Depart-
ment serve as executive officers and secretaries of local forestry
boards set up under the Act. The Department provides fire protection
for 2,700,000 acres of public and private woodland. To this end it
maintains a specially trained fire-control force supplemented by 600-
700 forest wardens commissioned by the Governor. The Department
also protects approximately 3,000,000 trees along the State highways.
It employs a force of wardens to supervise tree-trimming operations
by the public utility companies along their pole-line right of ways. It
also examines and licenses tree experts operating within the State.

The Department administers ten State Forests with a total area of
119,796 acres. These forests serve as demonstration areas in forestry
management. The Department has developed recreational areas in
several of them, notably, Herrington Manor on the Swallow Falls and
New Germany on the Savage River. Parallel to this responsibility is
the administration of the seventeen State Parks of scenic or historic
interest totaling 16,550 acres. The State Forests and Parks and their
areas are as follows:

STATE FORESTS

Name County Area

Cedarville Prince George's and Charles 3,520
Doncaster Charles 1,464
Elk Neck - Cecil 2,742
Green Ridge - Allegany - - - 26,631
Pocomoke - - Worcester - . 12,250
Potomac - Garrett - 12,052
Savage River „ Garrett -. - 52,708
Seth (Demonstration) Talbot - - 125
Swallow Falls Garrett 7,453
Wicomico - Wicomico - - 1,110
Nursery - Anne Arundel 129