Bernie Robinson: Preserving forests should be a priority. This bill would accomplish that.
Bernie Robinson is an Anne Arundel kayaker and a longtime resident of the Fox Chase community of Glen Burnie, where a neighborhood forest was threatened with extinction. (Courtesy photo/HANDOUT)
I have been an Anne Arundel County kayaker for many decades. I have explored all Anne Arundel county waterways, including Marley Creek and its tributaries, which previously provided sanctuary to wildlife, bordered on its banks by scenic forest habitat.
Over the past 10 years, I have personally witnessed the loss of this critical forest preserve, home and rookery to many bald eagles, great blue herons, sea ospreys, multitudes of fish, oysters, crabs, amphibians, turtles, fox, deer and waterfowl.
Historically, until the excesses of belligerent development, the waters of our communities were swimmable, teaming with life, an abundant source of toxin-free crabs and fish, healthy to be consumed. Commercial watermen, recreational anglers, and subsistence crabbers and fishermen all shared in the bounties provided by nature.
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Wildlife was voiceless, however, with no advocates strong enough to withstand the pressure from developers to cut down their forest homes. Such real estate intrusions are a travesty against nature, against the citizens of Anne Arundel county, and a violation of ecological justice.
At the Aug. 20 town hall on forestation in Anne Arundel County, aerial photos of Marley Creek deforestation between 2007 and 2017 revealed the devastation.
Where previously there was a rich forest canopy, there remained no more than a thin façade of trees. The American bald eagles, once easily observable, have disappeared, along with the foxes, deer, diverse fish, crabs, oysters and amphibians. The clean air which I once enjoyed is no longer filtered by the trees.
The wildlife suffered, we suffered, and the damage is permanent, irreversible. Marley Creek will never be the same. Nature lost; the developers won, again.
Now I rarely kayak Marley Creek, as the wonders I used to enjoy and share no longer exist.
I am also a decades-long resident of Glen Burnie. A forest of 365 acres and a small wetland border my backyard. In recent years, this forest preserve, too, caught the eye of greedy developers. It took repeated efforts on the part of the residents of the Fox Chase community to resist and ultimately defeat the aggressive moves of the developers to bulldoze and destroy the forest.
Small concessions were offered by the developers, with threats of even greater devastation if the community did not accept their proposal. The developers could not see any perspective but their own, which views forests and wetlands as obstacles in their way.
The Fox Chase residents, however, saw it differently. They argued that the forest and wetland were essential to their quality of life, which indeed they are. Finally, with so much public attention to the need to preserve this forest and wetland, the area received the protection of the county.
Score: 1:1. Marley Creek forest and waterways lost; Fox Chase community forest and wetland protected.
Most residents of Anne Arundel County do not realize that a 100-acre forested site in our county could be cleared of 68 acres for mixed-use before replanting, mitigation or fee-in-lieu requirements. This is equivalent to a free pass for developers to cut down huge swaths of forest with no penalty and no cost to them whatsoever.
Our families and future generations are fully reliant upon forests, our best defense against flooding, water pollution and poor air quality.
It's time to make the preservation of forests a priority in our county. What could be more important to our county than clean air and clean water? Not only kayakers but all residents of Anne Arundel County need forests.
Let's support the Forest Conservation Act to be voted upon by the County Council on Monday. Our lives depend on it.
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Bernie Robinson is an Anne Arundel kayaker and a longtime resident of the Fox Chase community of Glen Burnie, where a neighborhood forest was threatened with extinction.
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