These funds will be used to increase active forest management for healthy and productive forests and to reduce wildfire risk across maryland and will contribute to shared stewardship through nine…

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R9-Eastern Region awarded the Maryland Department of Agriculture $540,000 on August 10, 2026, under the Forest Health Protection program (CFDA 10.680) to increase active forest management across Maryland and reduce wildfire risk through nine integrated programs.

The award funds cooperative forest health protection core activities to investigate, detect, and evaluate forest damage-causing agents, and forest health monitoring core activities providing information from aerial and ground surveys to monitor forest pests. The recipient will conduct hemlock woolly adelgid treatments and biocontrol releases to protect Maryland's hemlock resource; spongy moth suppression to protect oak resources and maintain ecosystem function; emerald ash borer treatments of specimen trees in parks and wildland areas; beech leaf disease survey and monitoring; laurel wilt disease and redbay ambrosia beetle early detection and rapid response survey to map range expansion; oak wilt disease survey and monitoring to investigate declining oak species; and sudden oak death stream baiting survey to assess Phytophthora ramorum status at high-risk introduction sites.

Performance spans Maryland with completion targeted for June 30, 2031. This is a project grant in assistance form. The Maryland Department of Agriculture serves as prime recipient on forest health protection work across multiple USDA Forest Service awards and carries an established portfolio of 34 awards for forest health and invasive species management work statewide.

These funds will be used to increase active forest management for healthy and productive forests and to reduce wildfire risk across maryland and will contribute to shared stewardship through nine programs/projects. (1) cooperative forest health protection core provides resources to investigate, detect, and evaluate forest damage-causing agents. (2) forest health monitoring core provides information from aerial and ground surveys to monitor forest pests. (3) hemlock treatments, survey, and biocontrol will protect maryland's hemlock resource from the hemlock woolly adelgid by treating high-value trees and releasing biocontrol agents. (4) spongy moth suppression: this protects maryland's OAK resources from the spongy moth, thereby maintaining a functional ecosystem and lowering fire risk. (5) emerald ASH borer treatments protect specimen trees in parks and wildland areas, ensuring a future seed source. (6) beech leaf disease survey & monitoring provides critical, real-time knowledge of the effects of beech leaf disease. (7) laurel wilt disease/redbay ambrosia beetle (RAB) survey is an early detection and rapid response survey to map any range expansion of RAB and the associated disease, laurel wilt. (8) OAK wilt disease survey & monitoring investigates the declining OAK species in maryland to determine the causal agent(s). (9) sudden OAK death (SOD) stream baiting survey provides information on the status of phytophthora ramorum in maryland relating to high-risk introduction sites.