Forest Conservation

The Howard County Forest Conservation Act was first passed in 1992 and became effective on January 1, 1993. The Act was repealed and replaced in December 2019, and the new Act became effective on February 5, 2020. The Howard County Forest Conservation Act implements many of the policies and actions of Howard County’s General Plan to protect and restore forests and other native plant communities, and to secure better protection of environmental and landscape resources within new developments. The main intentions of the Howard County Forest Conservation Act are summarized below: 

• When developing a site, keep intact as much of the existing forest resources as possible (retention). 
• Protect rare, threatened and endangered trees, trees that are part of an historic site or associated with a historic structure, and specimen trees. 
• If forest must be cleared, replant native forests (reforestation). 
• On sites where no or very limited forest resources now exist, plant new native forest stands to create the minimum level of forest cover specified (afforestation). 
• Protect all retained and newly planted forest with a Forest Conservation Easement.

Learn how sites are selected for mitigation projects via the Howard County General Mitigation Plan.

Analyze the detail of how in-lieu fees are tracked and spent by the County by visiting our site, Forest Conservation Accounting Procedures.

The Howard County Forest Conservation Regulations are pursuant to the requirements of the Maryland Forest Conservation Act of 1991, which requires units of local government to adopt a local Forest Conservation Program that meets the requirements of the Natural Resources Article, Section 5-1601 through 5-1613 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. 

The Howard County Forest Conservation Manual implements the Howard County Forest Conservation Act.

Worksheets

Access our Forest Conservation Worksheet and Instruction Sheet

Educational Resources

• Review our guide for Forest Conservation Areas located within public easements, HOA or County owned open space, or preservation parcels.
• Watch the video, What is Howard County's Forest Conservation Program?, for an overview of Howard County’s Forest Conservation Program. The purpose and goal of the program is to protect and preserve forest in Howard County by promoting environmentally sensitive design during the subdivision and land development process. The video stresses the importance of educating the community residents about the forest program to ensure the long-term protection, preservation and maintenance of our forest resources in the County. 
• Learn how you can help protect our forest resources with this educational video. 
  The primary purpose of this video is to help educate the public about the need to avoid certain activities that may destroy or degrade protected forest resources located in their community. Some of the permitted and non-permitted uses within forest conservation easements are highlighted in this video. The video asks for the community’s help in our mission as the guardians of the public’s trust in protecting the County’s valuable forest resources for future generations.    

Forms

Declaration of Intent

• DOI - Agricultural | DOI - Forestry | DOI - Linear Project | DOI - Real Estate Transaction | DOI - Single Family | 

   

• Fee-in-Lieu Request 
• Forest Conservation Summary Chart

Resources

• Plan Exhibit Template- Clearing in a Priority Forest Retention Area
• Forest Conservation Fees
• MD State Champion Trees 
• Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland - MD DNR

Priority Areas for Retention

Although all forest stands have environmental value, the Forest Conservation Program favors protecting forests in sensitive areas and maintaining large, contiguous, undisturbed forest stands.

The following areas are listed in order of priority for forest retention:
1.    Howard County Green Infrastructure Network
2.    100-Year Floodplain
3.    Stream Buffers
4.    Forested Wetlands and Wetland Buffers
5.    Critical Habitat Areas and Forest Corridors for Wildlife Movement
6.    Forest Suitable for Forest Interior-Dwelling Species
7.    Steep Slopes and Erodible Soils
8.    Tier II or Tier III High-Quality Watershed
9.    Reservoir Watersheds
10.    Forest in Urban Areas
11.    Forest Contiguous with the Priority Areas Listed Above
12.    Forest Contiguous with Off-Site Forest Conservation Easements
13.    Property Line and Right-of-Way Buffers, Scenic Roads
 

Visit the interactive map to explore priority areas for forest retention in the County.

For information on development projects proposing clearing within priority forest retention areas, visit the Priority Areas for Forest Retention web page.

Priority Areas for Reforestation and Afforestation

The most appropriate locations for new forest plantings are where they will protect, enhance or restore environmentally sensitive areas within the proposed development. If off-site planting would have greater environmental benefit, the Department of Planning and Zoning may approve planting in high-priority off-site locations. 

The following areas are listed in order of priority for selecting reforestation or afforestation sites:
1.    Howard County Green Infrastructure Network
2.    100-Year Floodplain and Stream Buffers
3.    Wetlands and Wetland Buffers
4.    Critical Habitats and Forest Corridors for Wildlife Movement
5.    Steep Slopes
6.    Areas Adjacent to Existing Forest Stands
7.    Infill Between Isolated Forest Stands and Groves of Specimen Trees
8.    Property Line or Right-of-Way Buffers
 

Forest mitigation banks are retained or planted forest conservation areas that are established for the purpose of providing credits for forest mitigation requirements. Mitigation banks can be created as forest retention or forest planting areas, providing a mechanism for protecting existing forests or creating large forest plantings in high-priority locations. Banks must be established in the priority locations identified in the Manual for forest retention and planting, must be a minimum of one acre in size and must be protected by a Forest Conservation Easement.

Mitigation banks can be more environmentally valuable than planting on a development site when it will: 
•    Expand or create tree cover in environmentally sensitive areas. 
•    Expand large forest stands already protected by a Forest Conservation Easement or other conservation easement. 
•    Enhance permanently protected open space or preservation parcels through planting. 
•    Expand or create large forest stands, rather than create isolated, low value forest stands.

More information on Forest Mitigation Banking coming soon.
 

The Natural Resources Division of the Howard County Department of Recreation & Parks performs all inspections and enforcement of forest conservation easements in Howard County. Inspections are conducted to verify if forest conservation easements are following project-specific requirements during the development phase and to enforce restrictions on certain activities within easements after development is complete.  

For further information, please visit the Department of Recreation and Parks Enforcement web page.