The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is helping the Maryland Forestry Board Foundation to seek qualified tree planting and forest management services for its Healthy Forests, Healthy Waters Initiative. The Initiative will implement riparian forest buffers, upland tree plantings and road erosion control projects that are part of private landowner forest management plans.

The implementation of forest management plans is an important strategy for achieving water quality and other environmental, economic, and social goals. Forest management plans provide guidance to landowners on how they can meet their management objectives while sustaining their forest and the benefits it provides. The Maryland Forest Service works with 400 rural landowners each year to implement management plans. Yet current estimates suggest that only 10% of family forest owners have a written management plan.

The requested services are bundled into three regional RFPs: Eastern Maryland, Central Maryland and Western Maryland. Please respond to each RFP individually. Proposals are due October 16, 2013 at 5PM EST.