Cheverly's Forest Lands

As much as we enjoy and reap the benefits of our yard, park and street trees and work towards their increase, we understand that the greatest benefit to our climate is a healthy forest. A healthy forest is not only the trees that we see above ground. It includes all that happens beneath – the roots, microbes, and fungi that mutually feed the trees and one another. And let’s not forget the insects, birds, and animals that pollinate the trees and spread their seeds. Unlike the human-designed park or garden, the forest is, according to one forester, “a beautiful mess.” The healthy forest regenerates itself in ever-changing cycles of birth, growth and death. And it is the entire forest that sequesters carbon. Cheverly policy, as set out in the town’s Green Infrastructure Plan, is the establishment and preservation of a natural areas network, including our forests.

Cheverly’s woods are by no means old-growth, or “ancient” forests. Most of our land has been through more than one clearing for farms and meadows. 

When we enjoy quietly walking through Cheverly’s patches of forest it’s easy to forget that most of them do not actually belong to Cheverly. When we follow Woodworth Trail, for example, we move from Cheverly-owned land, through lots that are privately owned, those owned by the county and the State Highway Administration. Cheverly has no control over whether those lands will always be preserved for forest health. Research and action are under way to ensure that our preservation policy will apply to all these lands.  

We have mapped the forest patches within the boundaries of Cheverly to show their ownership. The areas outlined in red are town-owned. Blue indicates M-NCPPC ownership; light green, SHA; orange, Prince George’s County; and purple, private land. 

https://www.pgatlas.com/?mapID=0b9bd98f-bdc9-4ded-ba8f-3d064774bb06