Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 18:51:59 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Coleman Subject: Re: Blackwater Tree Planting MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-7" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Normally I don't weigh into these strings but I just can't help it on this one ... While all the different points that have been raised on the Blackwater Tree Planting so far are good ones, Jed's point is a really imp. one that is often forgotten since it is a lot flashier (& appealing to the public & press) to plant trees than protect or enhance grasslands and shrub-land. As Denise points out the quantity of trees being planted in such a large area are prob. not going to cause any problems and, depending on where they are planted, may actually be very useful. One of the reasons for the decline in the Delmarva Fox Squirrel is loss of forestland. Also, riparian forests are one of the best ways to protect clean water. However, "grassland and shrub-land [are] endangered ecosystems that are of national significance. In fact, grassland and shrub-land in eastern North America have declined by more than 98 percent since the 1950 's "(Noss, Laroe and Scott, Biological Report 28, National Biological Service, Washington DC, 1995). In fact, grasslands are prob. the most endangered wildlife habitat in the east and the drastic declines in grassland birds are excellent proof of that. Joe Coleman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jed Kusterer" To: Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 11:45 AM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Blackwater Tree Planting ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================