• Agriculture
• Air Pollution
• Bay Grasses
• Blue Crabs
• Chemical Contaminants
• Climate Change
• Development
• Education
• Forests
• Forest Buffers
• Groundwater
• Invasive Species
• Menhaden
• Nutrients
• Oysters
• Population Growth
• Rivers and Streams
• Sediment
• Shad
• Stormwater Runoff
• Striped Bass
• Wastewater
• Weather
• Wetlands

Read More

Why are forests important?

Forests provide critical functions that benefit all plants and animals — including humans — such as filtering pollution, creating habitat and cleaning the air.

Forests protect clean water

Forests are one of the most beneficial land uses for keeping our waterways clean and healthy. Forests are like giant sponges that absorb pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff. Trees also remove pollution from the air.

• Riparian forests that buffer streams significantly reduce the amount of excess nitrogen and phosphorus that enters a water body, sometimes by as much as 30 to 90 percent. Forests currently buffer about 60 percent of the streams and rivers in the Bay watershed.
• Forests protect and filter drinking water for 75 percent of the Bay watershed's residents — that's nearly 13 million people.
• Forests replenish groundwater, an important source of drinking water for many people.
• Mature trees have deep root systems that hold soil in place, which helps to reduce erosion.

Forests provide habitat for wildlife

Healthy forests provide food, shelter, nesting sites and safe migration paths for critters in the water and on the land.

• Riparian forests shade the water beneath their canopies, maintaining cooler water temperatures in summer, an important factor for spawning fish.
• Decaying leaves and wood on the forest floor are also essential links in the Bay food web.

Forests clean the air

Forests absorb and trap nitrogen, particulates and other pollutants released into the atmosphere by cars, industries, agriculture and construction. Forests retain more than 85 percent of the nitrogen deposited on them from the air. Trees also produce the oxygen that we breathe.

Forests support the region's economy

Conservatively, Chesapeake forests provide approximately $24 billion each year from ecosystem services like outdoor recreation, carbon sequestration, flood control and wildlife habitat. Forestry, the second largest industry in Pennsylvania and Virginia and the fifth largest in Maryland, supports many of the region's small cities and towns. The forest industry provides 140,000 jobs, $6 billion in income and a total industry output of $22 billion to the Bay watershed economy each year.

Forests support outdoor hobbies and family activities

Forests offer us places to reflect and experience natural beauty and solitude. They also foster active outdoor activities like hiking, biking and bird watching.

What does a healthy forest look like?

A healthy forest is a complex, interdependent community of plants, animals and soil. Each layer of the forest provides diverse habitats and helps to protect clean water.

• The canopy is the forest's top layer. It shades and protects animals and plants below, while also intercepting and slowing rainfall.
• Beneath the canopy is the understory, a second layer made up of smaller trees and shrubs. As older trees die and leave gaps in the canopy, younger trees grow to replace them.
• The next layer, the forest floor, is populated by vines, grasses, mosses, worms, insects, fungi, bacteria and other small plants and animals. They continually decompose leaves, wood and other organic material that falls to the forest floor so that it may be reused by larger plants. This layer is also a storehouse of nutrients.
• The litter on the forest floor protects the soil, the bottom layer of the forest. Healthy forests often contain more living biomass in the soil below ground than on the surface.

How are forests harmed?

Forests are one of the most beneficial land use for protecting clean water. Every acre of forestland converted to another type of land use—such as agriculture or urban and suburban lands—allows more nutrients to flow into the Bay and its tributaries. Historic and current human-related influences have significantly changed the composition and critical ecosystem functions of the Chesapeake's forests.

Development, parcelization, invasive species and other human influences continue to impact Chesapeake forests. Today, only 40 percent of watershed forests have enough habitat to support healthy populations of interior forest-dwelling species.

Historic deforestation

When Europeans arrived to the Bay region in the 17th century, they found vast, diverse forests dominating 95 percent of the watershed. European settlement had dramatic and lasting effects on the watershed's forests, as well as water quality in the Bay and its tributaries. By the late 1800s, 40 to 50 percent of forestland had been harvested and/or repurposed for agriculture, fuel, timber and other uses.
Throughout the 20th century, “new” forests grew back on abandoned farmland and in heavily logged forests. However, our forests are now more homogeneous in age, size and species composition than before European settlement of the watershed.

Development

Between 1982 and 1997, the Bay watershed lost over 750,000 acres of forestland to development—a rate of about 100 acres per day. This loss of forestland is a permanent loss of air and water filters, wildlife habitat and other significant functions that forests provide.

Our remaining forestland is also becoming increasingly fragmented. Roads, farms, housing subdivisions and other human uses divide 60 percent of the watershed's forests into disconnected fragments surrounded by other land uses. Fragmented forests are less resilient to major disturbances and more prone to negative influences like wildfires and invasive species.

Parcelization

Parcelization is the breakup of larger land ownerships into smaller parcels. Over the past 10 years, the number of family forest owners in the Bay watershed increased by nearly 25 percent, or 23,000 new family forestland owners per year. Nearly 70 percent of all family forest owners hold less than 10 acres.
Forest parcelization often corresponds with a decline in the percentage of forestland under sustainable management plans. This restricts access to residents and increases the risk of fragmentation and conversion to other uses.

Overabundant deer

White-tailed deer have become one of the greatest threats to many of the Bay watershed's forests. As forests have become fragmented and surrounded by farms and suburban gardens, deer have more plentiful and nutritious food sources. Fragments also provide refuges for deer where hunting is prohibited.

Locally high deer populations:

• Eat large amounts of tree seedlings and young trees, keeping forests from regenerating.
• Selectively browse for food, which changes forest composition and depletes species diversity.

Invasive plants, insects and diseases

Invasive plants are harmful to forests because they:

• Grow and reproduce rapidly, killing and out-competing other species in the process.
• Lower the quality of food and shelter for wildlife.
• Eliminate host plants of insects.
• Compete with native plants for pollinators.

Kudzu, English ivy and Japanese honeysuckle are a few types of invasive plants that have become permanent residents of Chesapeake forests.

Invasive pests and diseases also harm forests. Gypsy moths, emerald ash borers, chestnut blight, beech bark disease and Dutch elm disease have all had long-term, devastating impacts on the region’s forests.

How are forests being restored?

Retaining and expanding Chesapeake forests is a critical, cost-effective way to reduce pollution and help restore the Bay. Forests are the most beneficial land use for protecting water quality, as they absorb pollution from the air and capture, filter and retain pollutants in runoff. Investing in sustainable forestry will also help address challenges like sprawl, climate change and energy independence.

Current restoration goal

In December 2007, the Chesapeake Executive Council committed to conserve and restore the forests of the Bay watershed by:

• Permanently protecting an additional 695,000 acres of forest from conversion to other land uses by 2020, targeting forests in areas of highest water quality value. As part of this goal, 266,400 acres of forest land under threat of conversion will be protected by 2012.
• Working with local governments, legislative delegations, land trusts and other stakeholders to develop dedicated sources of funding to conserve forests important to water quality. Where possible, the states will support these sources through incentive programs like matching grants.
• Establishing and implementing mechanisms to track and assess forest land cover change at the county and township level every five years. These mechanisms will also be delivered to local governments, watershed groups and other partners.

Urban Tree Canopy Goals

Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as Washington, D.C., have each involved local urban and suburban communities in setting tree canopy cover goals. Urban tree canopy—the layer of trees covering the ground when viewed from above—is a good indicator of the amount and quality of forests in cities, suburbs and towns.

• News
• Video
• Publications
• Maps

From Around the Web

• The State of Chesapeake Forests - U.S. Forest Service
• Forestry for the Bay - Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
• Forests - Pinchot Institute for Conservation
• Chesapeake Bay Urban Tree Canopy Goals - Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Growing Native - Potomac Conservancy
• Chesapeake Forest Champion - International Year of Forests