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Gerald Winegrad: Forest destruction continues as politicians take developer funding | COMMENTARY.In 1609, when English settlers landed at Jamestown, forests covered 95% of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.Colonization triggered an ecological Armageddon with rampant forest clearing for timber and agriculture, accelerating to grow tobacco.By the late 1800s, industrialized agriculture ended forest loss as cleared farmland was abandoned and forests regenerated.By 1950, a second wave of massive forest clearing occurred, mainly for development.Bay forest cover has been reduced to 58% — a striking 61% loss since 1609.Maryland’s loss was greater with forest reduced to 39% coverage.Anne Arundel County’s 95% forest cover has declined to 60% and forests are still in rapid decline.From 1986 to 1999, the county lost 42,000 acres (33% of its forest).From 2010 to 2017, the county lost 2,775 acres of forest to development.This rate (nearly 300 acres per year) outpaced all surrounding jurisdictions, earning the county a reputation for high deforestation.Another 1,426 net acres were lost from 2014 to 2022.Forest clearing into the early 1800s sent early warnings as flows of unleashed sediment led to the demise of major colonial shipping hubs whose harbors were silted in.These former ports include London Town, Joppatowne and Port Tobacco.The environmental impacts of forest loss were exacerbated by its conversion to agriculture and to development.This transformation greatly ramped up the destructive flow of not only bay smothering sediment, but of the major pollutants inhibiting bay restoration — nitrogen and phosphorus.We belatedly learned that forests act like giant sponges, stabilizing soils and greatly reducing stormwater runoff into streams and the bay.The extensive system of trees, understory growth, leaves and detritus absorb up to 90% of polluting nutrients, sediment and toxic chemicals.Nature’s natural drainage system allows stormwater to slowly percolate into groundwater.During a 1-inch rainfall, a 1-acre forest releases 750 gallons of runoff; an impervious parking lot releases 27,000 gallons.Forests cleanse water that recharges our drinking water aquifers.Their loss can lead to dry wells and saltwater intrusion.Forest loss adds global warming gases, impacts air quality, increases flooding and erosion and reduces wildlife habitat.The science is clear: To restore the Chesapeake, we need to restore the bay’s forest.Instead, we insidiously continue to destroy forest.In 1991, I developed the Maryland Forest Conservation Act with Senate Minority Leader Jack Cade to better protect forests from development.The law has slowed forest loss from land development, but significant losses pervade as counties and cities often apply its terms most favorably to developers.In the 15-year battle over Crystal Spring, we succeeded in gaining enactment by Annapolis of the strongest forest protection measure in the state, and perhaps the entire region.It is a true no-net-loss measure.Efforts to do the same in the state and counties have been thwarted by the development lobby.Anne Arundel County is a prime example.Despite its major forest loss, the County Council in 2019 voted to eviscerate a strong Forest Conservation Act pushed by the Pittman administration.In a series of six amendments, a majority of council members, including current council member and County Executive candidate Allison Pickard, voted to gut the proposal, caving to the developers, land speculators, attorneys and engineers who profit from the development of real estate.Pickard is a major recipient of the development juggernaut campaign donations, having taken $145,200 since 2019.She had $407,000 in her campaign account as of May 12, more than double what all her opponents had.Councilman Pete Smith, also running for county executive, took the second most at $122,600.Pickard also voted to kill an amendment to preserve the residential low-density zoning of a three-quarter-acre parcel in Millersville in March 2026.The Capital Gazette reported that despite community outcry, Pickard and others voted against the citizens who accused council members of being swayed by roughly $18,000 in political donations from the landowner’s law firm.The Capital Gazette reported that Pickard received the most money, $5,500, of all members.Frustrated with her colleagues’ allegiance to the development juggernaut and their campaign largesse, Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien introduced legislation to ban campaign contributions from real estate developers when they have county development applications or zoning matters in the pipeline.The bill required developers to disclose donations from themselves, their company, family and associates.On April 20, County Executive Steuart Pittman spoke at a rally before the vote that night alongside former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker.The county legislation was modeled after a bill Baker had gained passage of to restore public trust in land use decision-making after his predecessor’s federal conviction and jailing for seven years for taking developers’ bribes.All 12 members of the public who spoke at the meeting and 14 submitting comments were in favor of the bill.There were no opponents who spoke or submitted comments.Without any debate, the council voted 5-2 to kill the bill, with Pickard and Smith the pivotal votes.Had they voted in favor, the bill would have passed by 4-3.Rodvien was at a loss over why the bill was defeated.Campaign financing laws limit individual donations to $6,000 to a candidate.Developers and land speculators subvert limits by having their spouses, children and employees each give $6,000.I have written previously about how local planning and zoning power was among the most abused powers in American history.There have been many local officials besides the P.G.County executive imprisoned for kickbacks and bribes in development cases, including Anne Arundel County’s first elected County Executive Joe Alton and former Baltimore County Council Executives Spiro Agnew and Dale Anderson.While campaign contributions by developers and favorable votes that follow are not illegal, the perception of corruption pervades.That is why it is imperative to elect James Kitchin as the next county executive.He is the only viable candidate who is impervious to the warping influence of the development industry and its lobby.He has refused to take any donations from developers.He opted for public financing, limiting donations to $250.This puts him at a major disadvantage as Pickard had triple the amount of his funds as of May 12.James Kitchin holds a Ph.D.in Public Policy with a specialization in Urban Policy, focusing on governance of cities and suburbs.He has a wealth of experience in county government, having served as the Pittman administration’s Community Engagement and Constituent Services director.He was a high school teacher, and his wife is a county high school teacher.The Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, Pittman and former mayor and now County Council candidate Gavin Buckley endorse him.I know many of you have been bombarded with mailers from Pickard.Her latest claims are that she funded four new county schools and added over 650 teachers — quite a feat even with tens of thousands of dollars from developers, as these measures cost tens of millions of dollars.This is the type of deceit we need to defeat.If you care about the environment and the education of our children, please vote and help James Kitchin win the county executive seat he seeks.Gerald Winegrad represented the greater Annapolis area as a Democrat in the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate for 16 years.Contact him at gwwabc@comcast.net.