By Taylor Montford
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other supporters rallied in Annapolis’s Whitmore Park earlier this month to support Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman’s proposed forest conservation bill.
Amelia Farrell, a senior at Annapolis High School and passionate activist for the environment, said during the Oct. 7 demonstration that she supports the bill because it specifically outlines that developers must replant trees in areas where they’re critically needed, such as areas susceptible to erosion.
“I am here to advocate for the youth of Annapolis,” Farrell said. “Even though I cannot yet vote, I still want my voice, and the voices of my generation to be heard in support of our forests. All we ask for is clean water and clean air.”
During the rally, proponents wore matching shirts saying, “Protect our forests.” A woman held a sign that read, “They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.” Another held a sign reading, “You don’t [know] what you’ve got till’ it’s gone.”
Pittman said the proposed bill would be the best and strongest conservation bill in the state of Maryland if passed. The bill was introduced last month and would implement stricter replanting requirements, protect critical forests, increase fees for developers when they don’t replant, and establishes how much forest must be protected in a site.
The County Council weakened the bill with a series of amendments during a meeting on Oct. 21, rolling back some of the protections sought by Pittman. The council will hold another hearing on the bill on Nov. 4.
Pittman said during the rally that the county has cut down more trees than all surrounding counties combined. County officials also said the county has lost nearly 2,775 acres of forest since 2010.
“The bill is necessary because 40 percent of all the forest clear cut in the state of Maryland since 2010 was in Anne Arundel county,” Pittman said. “It’s not just the statistics, people drive around, and they see it and that’s why the polls show bipartisan support.”
South Riverkeeper Jesse Iliff said that forests are especially important in Anne Arundel County where stormwater runoff is the number one problem for the county’s rivers and creeks. Iliff patrols and protects the South River tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, acting as the primary spokesperson for the body of water.
“Forests are the sponges of the land that keep stormwater from polluting the waterways,” Iliff said. “Anything we can do to slow it down and soak it up is going to reap dividends to water quality.”
Pittman said to the crowd of activists that if they don’t give everything they have to fix this issue, then we will have let the younger generation down.
“We’re going to continue with land use decisions in this county that preserve the natural beauty of this place,” Pittman said. “My dad always said the most important thing in this world is to pass the land onto the next generation in better condition than we found it.”
Lani Hummel, an Anne Arundel County resident said she is considering moving from her home because of developers clear cutting trees and taking over her neighborhood.
“It’s all about money when it comes to developers,” Hummel said. “We don’t need another Starbucks when there’s one another block away. I moved to my neighborhood for the trees and I take great pleasure in bird watching and feeding them. The number of birds that visit my backyard has dropped exponentially.”