About Us
1. Our mission
The Frederick County Forestry Board promotes conservation, stewardship, and sustainable use of our forest resources, urban landscapes, and other natural areas. We educate and inform the public and vigorously advocate to retain or increase the integrity of our local, regional, and national forest ecosystems. Forests and trees benefit people; provide homes for wildlife; enhance the quality of our streams, lakes, and the Chesapeake Bay. Trees are critically important as they cool the environment, retain and improve soil, produce oxygen while consuming carbon dioxide, and enhance our physical well-being and mental outlook. We believe trees and forests improve all facets of our lives.
2. Vision Statement
To lead the field of conservation and responsible stewardship, the Frederick County Forestry Board’s first priority is to retain or increase the integrity of our nation’s forest ecosystems, to protect existing forest resources from damaging agents that affect broad areas of forested land, to responsibly and effectively manage our publicly-owned forested lands, and to educate and inform the public.
3. Maryland Forest Conservancy District Boards
The Maryland Association of Forest Conservancy District Boards was created by a state act (Forest Conservancy District Act - Article Natural Resources, 5-601 to 5-610) of 1943. Maryland has 24 Boards, one for each county plus the city of Baltimore. A Maryland Forest Service Forester serves as the Executive Secretary of each Board. The Frederick County Forest Conservancy District Board is a state agency composed of volunteers appointed by the State Forester. The current Executive Secretary is Dakota Durcho, Maryland Forest Service Forester. Go to the Board members page to see a listing of the current membership.
All County Forestry Boards are part of the Maryland Forestry Foundation and we support the Maryland's Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR) Forest Service on the ground and in the community.
4. Statement of Purpose for Forestry District Boards
At the Maryland Forests Association 2005 Annual Meeting, Steven W. Koehn, Maryland State Forester, made a statement of purpose to all the forestry district boards in a presentation entitled "Our History, Our Roots . . . at the Turning Point?" His major points included:
As leaders in the field of conservation and responsible stewardship, the first priority of each State Forester and of this organization must be to retain or increase the integrity of our nation’s forest ecosystems.
Act to protect our nation’s existing forest resources from damaging agents that affect broad areas of forested land.
Responsibly and effectively manage our publicly-owned forested lands.
Our history
We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us ...
The creation of the Board of Forestry was a result of the vision of Robert and John Garrett, who donated over 2,000 acres of mountain woodland in 1906 to the state, provided it would make proper provision for its care. The Board of Forestry objectives were to provide for the economic and scientific management of forests in the state through cooperative efforts with private forest landowners, and regulation of forest practices which allowed the adequate source of forest products. To learn more of the history of the Maryland Forest Conservancy District Boards, visit History of Maryland's Forestry Boards.