Anne Arundel County, Md., has announced the launch of its new State of the Forest Dashboard that will provide policymakers and the public with a better understanding of the county’s forestry goals.
The platform will feature searchable tools to compile datasets from across the county to shed more light on reforesting goals.
“Passing the strongest forest conservation legislation in the state was the right response to the alarming annual loss of our county’s forests loss when I first took office,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman. “But now we must monitor the impact. This new online tool will guide all stakeholders as we continue efforts to protect the valuable forests that remain.”
“There is a ton of interest among the public in understanding how the County is managing its forest cover and, until now, there hasn’t been a way for them to access all of that information in one place,” said Senior Environmental Policy Advisor Erik Michelsen.
“This tool, which will evolve and be added to over time, helps put that information in the hands of people who care about it,” he added.
The platform was created after the county commissioned a study in 2017 that examined the changes to the county’s forests. The survey found that between 2010 and 2017, the county lost 2,775 acres of forest.
