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Forestry Workgroup BMP Verification Guidance

This 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.

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WIP 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.

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Riparian Forest Buffer Management Strategy

This 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.

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Urban Tree Canopy Management Strategy

This management strategy identifies approaches for achieving the following outcome: Continually increase urban tree canopy to provide air quality, water quality and habitat benefits throughout the watershed. Expand urban tree canopy by 2,400 acres by 2025.

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Restoring a Bay Resource - Riparian Forest Buffer Demonstration Sites

The use of demonstration sites for riparian forest buffer establishment is one way to help accomplish the objectives of communication, education, and monitoring. The riparian forest buffers in this document are located in agricultural, rural, and urban settings. An effort was made to locate restoration efforts in all three of these settings thereby showing the buffer's applicability in different land uses.

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Conserving the Forests of the Chesapeake: The Status, Trends, and Importance of Forests for the Bay

This report reviews the most current data on the status and trends of forests in the states of the Chesapeake watershed. The report begins with an historical perspective of land use changes in the basin from the time of European settlement to today. It then proceeds with the status of the forests in the Bay watershed in 1996 and trends of forest changes from the mid 1970's to early 1990's. This information is examined in light of its importance to them Bay. Fianally, we present recommendations for an effective forest conservation program for the Chesapeake Bay region.

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