Forums and Workshops
This page provides materials from special Forums and Workshops held in support of Baltimore County’s Forest Sustainability program. The following events have been held to date:
Forest Sustainability for Local Governments, September 18, 2008
This event was the fall workshop of the Mason Dixon Task Force, a discussion group for counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware along the Mason Dixon line, that was formed in the mid-1960s in response to regional drought. Member counties continue to collaborate on water quality, watershed management, and other environmental issues of mutual interest. The workshop was also co-sponsored by several members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Forests, including the USDA Forest Service, the MD Dept. of Natural Resources, and Baltimore County. The workshop presented frameworks, data and assessment tools, case studies, and other information for local governments about the importance of sustainable forest management. The event drew 108 participants including representatives from 22 counties (15 MD, 4 PA, and 3DE - through the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration).
The following information from the workshop is available as PDF documents:
- Workshop announcement
- Agenda
- List of attendees
- Power Point presentations
Introduces themes of the workshop, and lists pertinent forest facts in a question and answer format.
Describes Maryland DNR goals and programs, and GIS data and analyses, for forest conservation.
A case study of forest sustainability efforts in Baltimore County, Md.
Description of successful local government forest programs elsewhere in the Bay watershed.
- Index of documents on the tools and information CD
- Framework handout
- NA Forest Sustainability Indicators Information System handout
- List of additional selected forest organizations and resources
- List of selected references on forest nutrient cycling
- List of selected references on deer herd management and forest health
- Trees and urban air quality handout
Roundtable on Sustainable Forests National Workshops, December 10-12, 2007
This workshop was held at Oregon Ridge Park and focused on the challenges with scaling indicators from national to sub-national levels and the technical, data, and format issues regarding the 2010 edition of the National Report on Sustainable Forests. Materials from the workshop are available on the Roundtable on Sustainable Forests website.
5E Forum, June 1, 2006
The 5E Forum was held on June 1, 2006 at Oregon Ridge Park. This Forum was held to focus on 5 over-arching and special issues identified by the Steering Committee from the Draft Forest Sustainability Strategy for discussion with a broader audience of stakeholders. The Forum included 70 representatives from 40 organizations. The “5E” issues included: Education, Ecology, Economics, Easement, and “Endicators” (Environmental Indicators). The Forum led to the formation of 5 ad hoc sub-committees of the Steering Committee, which have selected priority actions for implementation.
- Forum Agenda (PDF)
- 5E Focus Area Summaries (PDF)
- Forum Summary (PDF)
- Attendees (PDF)
Issues and Indicators Forum, June 10, 2003
The issues and Indicators Forum was held on June 10, 2003 at Oregon Ridge Park. This Forum was sponsored by the Linking Communities to the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators (MPCI) project partners (USDA Forest Service, American Forests, and Sustainable Measures) to introduce the topic of forest sustainability and sustainability indicators, and to discuss whether the MPCI might provide a framework for measuring forest sustainability in Baltimore County. The Forum included 58 invitees from a diverse group of agencies and organizations. The Forum led to the formation of the current Steering Committee.
- Forum Invitation (PDF)
- Sustainability and Montreal Process Presentation (PDF)
- Forum Summary (PDF)
- Forum Flip Chart (PDF)
- Definitions and Resources (PDF)
- Forum Attendees (PDF)
- Forum Evaluation Results (PDF)
Revised July 15, 2009
Courthouse 