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<section article="gnr" article_name="Natural Resources" number="5-101" future_version_removed="true" title_number="5" title_name="Forests and Parks" subtitle_number="1" subtitle_name="In General">
  <level label="a">
    <text>In this title the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>“County” includes Baltimore City unless otherwise indicated.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>“Department” means Department of Natural Resources.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>“Environmental services” means the benefits generated for society by the existence and dynamic development of forests, including:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Regulating the surface and underground flow of water;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Providing effective filtration systems for higher water quality;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Supporting a myriad of native flora and fauna; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Providing goods and services ranging from forest products to aesthetics.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Forest land” means a biological community dominated by trees and other woody plants that are capable of producing timber or other wood products with a stocking of at least 100 trees per acre with at least 50% of those trees having a 2–inch or greater diameter at 4.5 feet above the ground.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Forest land” includes forested areas that have been cut but not converted to other land uses.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>“Forest stewardship plan” means a document written by a professional forester who is licensed under Title 7, Subtitle 3 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article, regarding a parcel of land comprising not less than 5 contiguous forested acres that lists activities that enhance or improve forest resources, including soil, water, timber, recreation, and aesthetics over a 15–year period.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>“Forestry” or “silviculture” means the science, art, and practice of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources for human benefit and in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, including goals for:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Clean air and water;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Biodiversity;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Wildlife habitat;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Fiber production; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Recreation.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Forestry practices” means activities conducted to achieve land management objectives.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Forestry practices” includes:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Planting;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Prescribed burning;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Thinning;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Pruning;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Harvesting;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Fertilizing; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Pesticide and herbicide application.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="i">
    <text>“No net loss of forest” means 40% of all land in Maryland is covered by tree canopy.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="j">
    <text>“Person” includes the State, any county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State, or any of their units, or an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind, or any partnership, firm, association, public or private corporation, or any other entity.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="k">
    <text>“Secretary” means Secretary of Natural Resources.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="l">
    <text>“Silvicultural product” or “forest product” means any raw material yielded by a forest, including:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Timber;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Timber products; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Any other forest materials, such as lumber, poles, pulpwood, firewood, and pine straw.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="m">
    <text>“Sustainable forestry” or “sustainable forestry management” means an internationally accepted and applied stewardship concept for the use of forests and forest lands in a manner and at a rate that maintains a forest’s:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Biodiversity;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Productivity;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Regeneration capacity;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Nutrient reduction benefits;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Vitality; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>Ecological, economic, and social purposes at local and national levels that do not cause damage to other ecosystems.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="n">
    <text>“Working landscapes” means:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Forest lands that are managed consistently with the requirements of a forest stewardship plan or a forest conservation plan, approved by the Department or a professional forester who is licensed under Title 7, Subtitle 3 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article, that advances sustainable forestry management as defined in subsection (m) of this section; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Agricultural lands that are managed consistently with criteria set forth by the Department of Agriculture.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
