Thanks to Candus Thompson, from the Baltimore Sun, for writing about the recent illegal tree cutting by members of the Greater Baltimore Canoe Club that took place in a “Wildlands” designated area of Gunpowder State Park in her Outdoors column. Her article aptly titled, “Paddlers with Chainsaws Bark Up the Wrong Tree” hopefully reminded all of us that Maryland’s State Parks were established, and still serve to protect, the natural resources of the State of Maryland.
For those of you unfamiliar with State “Wildlands”, the following description was posted by a dissenting bulletin board member of the Greater Baltimore Canoe Club under a since removed thread titled,
“what strainer”
The Hereford Area, located in northern Baltimore County, is one of five designated recreation areas in Gunpowder Falls State Park. The area’s 3,620 acres feature a scenic wilderness setting preserved under State Wildland status for nature appreciation and outdoor adventures.”
it continues…
“What activities are prohibited in a wildland? In general, those activities which are inconsistent with sustaining a wilderness environment or which leave a lasting imprint of human activity; including the use of motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment, the harvesting of timber, the construction of new roads, buildings, and other structures, manipulation of vegetation for wildlife management or other purposes and the introduction of non-indigenous species.” If anyone would like to read the comprehensive list of rules for State Wildlands, check out this link:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/resourceplanning/wildland.html
or for more detail, this little gem:
http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/08/08.01.02.06.htm
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Update: December 5, 2007,
A few words on fair use and providing links…
This post is copyright Backwater Angler Inc.
Please do not cut and/or copy and paste this post and/or insert it into another form of web media, ie:bulletin board, ect. in it’s entirety without express written consent from Backwater Angler Inc.. However, it is acceptable to quote or cite part of this post in it’s original form as long as you provide a link to the original post. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.