Reforest Montgomery, coordinated by the Montgomery County Planning Department, offers a free tree program for county residents and a $50 discount on native trees from participating nurseries. The program is funded by Montgomery County’s Forest Conservation Fund, created by fee-in-lieu payments made by developers to comply with the county’s Forest Conservation Law (FCL). Reforest Montgomery has a partnership with the county Parks Department to reforest and plant trees on parkland, offers free reforestation for private property owners, and partners with Montgomery Countryside Alliance to reforest the Agricultural Reserve through Re-Leaf the Reserve. To date, over 3,000 individual trees have been planted using FCL fee- in-lieu funds. Over 9,000 trees have been planted as part of reforestation projects. Another program (referenced earlier) that county homeowners and renters can use is the Home Tree Care 101 program, which is funded in part by the Montgomery County government and managed by the nonprofit Conservation Montgomery. Homeowners can request that a Home Tree Care 101 class be set up in their neighborhood and a certified arborist will visit and conduct a hands-on tree care class. Both Tree Montgomery and Reforest Montgomery are not available to residents within the Cities of Gaithersburg and Rockville since those incorporated jurisdictions
are not subject to the county’s sediment control permit and forest conservation requirements. They maintain their own permitting programs. However, the Home Tree Care 101 program is available to all Montgomery County residents. Forests in Montgomery County
The state and county forest conservation laws were originally enacted in the early 1990s to slow the loss of forests during development. The FCL applies to some property owners, government entities, and developers who need approval for a development plan, sediment control permit, or activity that could potentially harm a champion tree. Certain projects may qualify for an exemption from the requirements of preparing, submitting, and implementing a Forest Conservation Plan. It is implemented and enforced by the forest conservation planners and inspectors with the Montgomery County Planning Department. As of 2019, forests cover 29.8% of the county. xlviii Between 2021 and 2023, the Montgomery County Planning Department coordinated an initiative to amend the FCL to achieve “no net loss of forest” by projects subject to the Law. Planners and stakeholders took a creative approach, considering both the need to increase forest planting and protection in the county and the increased cost of forest mitigation to developments that need to comply with the FCL. The group reviewed data, reports, other ‘no net loss of forest’ amendments, and analyzed impacts using real projects with Forest Conservation Plans. The amendment enacted by the County Council in April 2023 aims to ensure an equal or greater area of forest is planted than forest removed on a county-wide level, by projects subject to the law. Agricultural Reserve. Photo from Montgomery Countryside Alliance
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