The Catoctin Forest Alliance represent a diversity of people with a common mission (
;)
preserve and promote the health of the Catoctin Mountain forest for the enjoyment of present and
future generations). The diagram below shows some of the originating organizations of the CFA founding members.
Here are some links to our root organizations:
New Forest Society (NFS)
The New Forest Society, chaired by Elizabeth Prongas, has been in existence for ten years providing dedicated service to protecting the Northern Frederick County Watershed. Over ten thousand trees have been planted by landowners who have diligently cared for seedlings in face of drought, vole and deer damage. Over these past ten years the New Forest Society members provided many community educational and environmental programs as well as fund raising events to purchase trees. A year or more ago, the New Forest Society assembled a steering committee to explore the possibility of forming a larger and stronger organization that would provide additional support for the Catoctin forests and greater Watershed areas. This new organization is now know as the "Catoctin Forest Alliance".
The Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance (MCWA)
The
Monocacy &Catoctin Watershed Alliance (MCWA) was formed in July, 2005 by a group of citizens who had been working together for a couple of years developing plans to protect and restore the Monocacy River watershed. The Alliance is comprised of partners working collaboratively on environmental education, protection and restoration projects. It is not an advocacy organization.
Members of northern Frederick County participated in the planning and development of the Upper Monocacy Watershed Restoration Action Plan (WRAS) including representatives of Catoctin Mountain Park, Cunningham Falls State Park, the New Forest Society, the Catoctin Land Trust, ThorpeWood, Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, the Frederick Forestry Board, the Towns of Emmitsburg and Thurmont, Mount St. Mary’s University, the Maryland Forest Service, Catoctin Mountain Orchard representing the Frederick Farm Bureau, and others.
Watershed specific strategies were developed including such initiatives as “. . . protecting privately held forested headwaters with conservation easements, and restoring degraded stream reaches, assisting private forest owners develop forest stewardship plans, and related activities”. The Plan’s natural resource management objectives include among others,
- Increasing wetland acreage through mitigation, restoration and preservation, 300 acres over three phases;
- Extending trout habitat by reforesting 20 miles of streams and preserving 2,000 acres of forested private land
- Protecting 10,000 acres of forest and farmland
- Increasing the number of forest management plans by 10%
Catoctin Forest Historical Images
This page also contains information and photos of interest related to the history of the Catoctin Forest.
Civilian Conservation
Corps workers began
projects at Catoctin
Forest in 1939. They
planted native trees,
blocked old logging
roads, and built trailside
shelters. (Photo from
National Park Service)
