State Agencies

The Land Reclamation Committee studies, rec-
ommends, and approves procedures for reclama-
tion, conservation, and revegetation of areas af-
fected by open-pit mining within the State. The
Committee also reviews all mining and reclama-
tion plans, progress reports, and final reports.
The Committee establishes plans and methods of
procedure, as well as practical guidelines, for the
prompt and adequate reclamation, conservation,
and revegetation of all lands disturbed by open-
pit mining of bituminous coal within the State
(Code Natural Resources Article, secs. 7-205,
7-501 through 7-505, 7-509, 7-510, 7-515).

FOREST AND PARK SERVICE

Donald E. MacLauchlan, Director

Tawes State Office Building
Annapolis 21401 Telephone: 269-3776
Weekend Public Information: 768-0895

The Forest and Park Services, formally two
separate units administered under one director,
were combined in 1982 to form the Forest and
Park Service (Chapter 184, Acts of 1982). The
Service works to serve the forest management and
recreational needs of the people of Maryland. It
manages Maryland's natural, cultural, historical,
and recreational resources by three programs:
General Direction, Cooperative Forestry, and
Forest and Park Management.

The General Direction Program provides direc-
tion, administrative support and services to the
other two programs in Forests and Parks. Bud-
get, personnel, purchasing, training, fleet manage-
ment, radio communications, safety, equal oppor-
tunity, and public information functions directly
serve the cooperative forestry and the forest and
park management programs.

The Cooperative Forestry Program provides as-
sistance to private forest landowners, municipali-
ties, and other governmental units in the manage-
ment of their forests and individual trees. The
goal of the program is to improve and maintain
the economic, aesthetic, recreational, environmen-
tal, and social contributions of trees, forests, and
forest related resources for the benefit of people.
The program has five major elements: cooperative
forest management, resource utilization, resource
planning, resource protection, and urban-commu-
nity forestry.

The Cooperative Forestry Program takes forest
management expertise to the 95,800 private land-
owners and the political subdivisions of the State.
Forest fire prevention and control, forest insect
and disease control, forest land management, for-

Natural Resources/'267

est watershed management, reforestation, and ur-
ban and community forestry represent the main
thrusts of the program. While such programs as
fire prevention and control, reforestation, and the
application of technical forestry to individual for-
est acreages have a long history in the Service, ur-
ban and community forestry is, in part, new. The
new program emphasizes working with develop-
ers, builders, architects, and city and county
planners in careful developmental planning and
large-scale forestry projects. Supervision of utility
trimming and municipal tree care programs con-
tinues to be an important facet of urban and
community forestry. The urban forestry concept
includes individual shade tree consultations to
private landowners, as time permits.

The Forest and Park Management Program ad-
ministers and manages Maryland's State forests,
parks, scenic preserves, historic monuments, and
natural environmental areas. While providing rec-
reational opportunities throughout the State, the
Management Program preserves the natural re-
sources, and insures multiple use and a sustained
yield of forest resources.

Program projects are found in all parts of
Maryland, from Potomac and Garrett Forests in
Garrett County to Assateague on the Atlantic
Ocean, from Elk Neck in Cecil County to Point
Lookout in St. Mary's County. The program is
comprised of 53 management projects, including
four State forests, ten multi-use parks, fourteen
general recreation parks, seven waterfront parks,
six natural environmental areas, ten historic or
scenic sites, one roadside picnic area, and one nat-
ural resources management area. Of the fifty-three
projects, thirty-nine are operational, and fourteen
are either under development or acquisition.

The thirty-five operational State parks provide
a wide variety of interests from day-use activities
such as picnicking and hiking to camping and
cabin occupancy, which permit more extended en-
joyment of these unique areas. Swimming, fishing,
nature study, and sightseeing are also popular.
The facilities contained in State parks and forests,
along with the roads, land, and utilities, represent
a fixed asset totaling approximately $170 million.

Each year six million people visit the State
parks and forests. Construction activities are un-
der way at many of these areas where new facili-
ties are being installed to improve existing ones
and provide additional recreational opportunities
for the park visitor.

Historical and nature interpretive programs,
designed to increase visitor awareness, are con-
ducted in the majority of areas. Annually, they
serve more than 300,000 people.