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Activities and Members Page Updated: 2010-07-12 09:46:04 Main Activities | Current Members | Historical Documents | Calvert County Foresters The Calvert Forestry Board is a group of citizens who serve as advocates for forestry in Calvert County. Currently we have five members that have a wide variety of backgrounds including farming, teaching, and publishing. The Board is funded annually by a grant from Calvert County. The Board uses these resources to support various forest education and awareness activities throughout the County. The Board is committed to telling the benefits of sustainable forest management in Calvert County.
Fall Tour
The tour is open to all Calvert forest landowners and usually includes presentations from foresters as well as tree farmers. Most tours are very active and involve walking around the tree farm to look at examples of different management techniques. It’s a great way to meet fellow forest owners and share experiences. The tour is well attended and enjoyed by all who participate. Recent tours have been located at the Bennett O. Hughes Memorial Tree Farm, the American Chestnut Land Trust, Goad Sawmill, the Bourne Tree Farm and the Anderson Tree Farm. Lunch is provided!
Fall Newsletter In September or October each year the Board publishes a fall newsletter to every forest landowner and manger in the County. The newsletter covers recent changes within the Maryland Forest Service as well as announcing the Fall Tour. In 2009 the newsletter will be sent electronically.
Calvert School Forest Program
The tree planting grows into an outdoor classroom providing students an opportunity to learn about tree identification, growth and ecology. The program started back in the mid 1990s and has grown to include just about every school in Calvert County. If you do not have a school forest at your location and would like one, please send a note using our contact form and we’ll help you get started with the application process. Currently, the Board is working on replacing older signs.
Arbor Day Poster Contest
CHESPAX helps distribute all the material and the Board judges the posters and awards the prizes. Posters are judged for the forestry message they present as well as the artwork. The Board produced an Arbor Day educational video which teachers use to help convey the message of Arbor Day. First and second place awards are given for each participating class. Savings bonds are awarded to winners of “best in school” and “best in County”. The teacher of the “best class” award receives a grant to purchase environmental educational materials for his or her classroom.
Calvert Envirothon
The Envirothon is a high-school environmental education and competition program. Teams compete in five natural resource disciplines including forestry. The winning team then competes at the State level. The Board provides a special award for the winning forestry team in Calvert County. Board members have also participated by serving as forestry instructors and have administered the forestry test on the day of competition.
Natural Resources Careers Conference Scholarships
The conference is located in Western Maryland and is normally scheduled during July. Students learn from natural resource professionals, hear from local colleges and universities and get hands-on experience conducting natural resource management. Depending on interest the Board normally provides full scholarships for one to three students each year. The Board provides scholarship to students in home schooling, public or private schools. For more information about this program click HERE.
Calvert Big Tree Tour
During the tour a naturalist from the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary talks about each tree and how it is unique. The Board provides transportation for participants and members have served as speakers on the tour. This event is normally held each fall and is very popular. For more information call 410-535-5327. Photograph by K. Uunila, courtesy Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning
Timber Harvest Review The Board has been delegated the responsibility to review timber harvest permit request for harvests near the Chesapeake Bay (Critical Area) and timber harvests conducted under the Forest Conservation Act. The Board’s role is to ensure all required paperwork is included in the permit, the harvesting actions are within current regulations and that all elements of natural resources that require protection have been considered. This is a responsibility the Board takes seriously and comprehensively reviews all plans. Depending on market conditions the Board normally reviews from one to five permits per year.
The Board has been involved in many smaller activities supporting forestry and forestry education. A listing of some of these activities is below.
Steve Stadelman, Chairman Major Steve Stadelman is a Soldier and natural resource management professional. Currently he works as a conservationist for the Army National Guard, Environmental Division. Steve manages programs that support both Soldier training and natural resource management on Army National Guard installations. He knew he wanted to be a forester since the age of thirteen when he worked with foresters on a Boy Scout service project. Steve enjoys teaching forestry and often volunteers as an Envirothon instructor. Steve is a Certified Forester with the Society of American Foresters and has been a Board member since 2006. Dawn Balinski, Treasurer Dawn is currently the Treasurer of the Maryland Forestry Boards Foundation and helps support many of the forestry programs around the state, such as the Natural Resources Careers Conference and the Maryland Urban and Community Forests Committee. She grew up in Alabama where she owns farm and forest land that has been in her family since the early 1800s. She manages 2 active tree farms and farm and hunting leases on the Alabama land. In Maryland, she and her husband Steve own forested land in Lusby which is in the county's Agricultural Preservation District program. Dawn became a Board member in 2010. Brian Stupak, Secretary Brian Stupak is a Pennsylvania native and attended Colorado State University, graduating in 1997 with a B.S. in Forest Management. He joined the Maryland Forest Service in 1998 and currently is the Project Manager for Calvert, Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties. Brian's interest in forestry began in high school and he particularly enjoys the ever changing work assignments and working with landowners dedicated to sound, sustainable forestry management. He also has a great interest in wildland fire management and frequently takes assignments with the Maryland Wildland Fire Crew. He has been the Board Secretary since 2002. Rebecca W. Miller, Member Rebecca currently is employed as a senior writer-editor for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She grew up in a large family and developed an interest in horticulture and forestry, learning to appreciate and work on rural properties, suburban gardens, and especially trees from her parents and grandparents. She also spent many a summer pruning Christmas trees on her family’s tree farm in rural Albany County, New York, and gardens wherever she lives. Now residing in Calvert County, she is fulfilling her life-long dream to own and improve the natural balance on a rural property, which includes an American Tree Farm System Certified Tree Farm and a wildlife meadow, as well as a historic home. Educated in the liberal arts, she majored in anthropology at the State University of New York at Binghamton, specializing in archeology, and obtained a master’s of arts in teaching. She and her husband, Steve Wehrly, have served as enthusiastic volunteers on the Calvert County Forestry Board since 2006, learning about the forestry-related issues facing the county. Steve Wehrly, Member Steve is an expert in electronic publishing technologies and currently serves as chief of policy and standards for the U.S. Army Publishing Directorate. A graduate of Wabash College and Indiana University, he has 20 years college and graduate teaching experience in the fields of ancient, medieval, Byzantine, and medieval Slavic history. Coming from Johnny Appleseed’s stomping grounds in Indiana, he has always been fascinated by natural history, especially botany, microbiology, entomology, and ecology. He is looking forward to retirement from the civil service and being able to devote more attention to forest and wildlife management in Calvert County. Steve has been a board member since 2006. Ken Korando, Member Ken Korando is the owner of Solomons Island Winery. As a winery owner Ken has a focus on environmental concerns and sustainable agriculture. In addition, as the owner of woodland with a Forestry Management Plan he feels the same concerns of sustainable forestry is key to maintaining our environment and quality of life. His love of forests and wildlife began on his family's fourth generation farm in Illinois. His family's farm includes 150 acres of forest and 5 acres of Christmas Trees.
Ancient Trees of Calvert County by Ailene W. Hutchins, 1986, download HERE
Maryland Forest Service, Calvert County Foresters (1968 – Current). Prior to 1968 Calvert County was only serviced by District Foresters. Phillip Mohler
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Every year during the month of October or November the Board sponsors a fall tour at a local Tree Farm.
Have you ever seen one of these signs? In cooperation with the Calvert Critical Area Reforestation and Evaluation Committee the Board sponsors educational tree plantings on County school properties. Trees are planted and sometimes even selected by students.
In cooperation with CHESPAX (Calvert County Outdoor Education) the Board sponsors an Arbor Day Poster Contest for all third grade students in Calvert County.
In cooperation with the Calvert Soil Conservation District and CHESPAX the Board is a part sponsor of the Calvert County Envirothon.
This conference is a week-long educational opportunity for Maryland high-school aged students to learn what it is like to work in the field of natural resource management.
In cooperation with the Calvert Natural Resources Division the Board sponsors the Calvert Big Tree Tour. It’s an educational tour visiting some of the largest trees in Calvert County.