Former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest was talking trees at the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, specifically old trees.
Gilchrest was on hand to talk about the Old Growth Forest Network, the brain child of Salisbury University biology and environmental studies professor Joan Maloof. An old growth forest is just want the name implies, a really old forest. According to Maloof, old growth forest acreage has declined every year since European settlement. It is important to preserve old growth forests for future generations so they know what a forest looks like and what species live there. Forests have also been linked to many health and psychological benefits.
Maloof would like to see each county in the United States declare a portion of public land an old growth forest, meaning no logging, no spraying of insecticides or herbicides, and no removal of plants or animals.
“The ideal situation would be an existing forest that’s pretty old, but it doesn’t have to be old because if you plant a tree today it’ll eventually get old,” said Gilchrest. “The land can be a mix of old and new trees or land that has yet to be planted. The point is to let the forest grow wild.”
Gilchrest said he and Maloof would like to see Kent County become the first county in the country to become part of the Old Growth Forest Network. He said the county has a number of good locations, including the Sassafras-Wildlife Management Area, Bloomfield Farm or Turners Creek. Whichever land the commissioners decide to designate it will be open to the public and only the land that is currently a forest will be designated as old growth; no tilled land would be included in the old growth forest.
Commissioner Ron Fithian said that if the county did decide to join the Old Growth Forest Network “we wouldn’t be doing anything that we’re not already doing we’d just be putting it in writing.”
The commissioners asked Gilchrest to meet with Planning Director Gail Owings to work out the details and come up with a potential list of sites.
StellaL says
Thanks Wayne for still looking out for our county!!