Make Gwynns Falls / Leakin Park a member of the Old Growth Forest Network!

Dear Mayor Scott, Council President Mosby, and City Council Members,

I have two requests today.

First, please support the preservation of all 842 acres of forest in the larger Gwynns Falls / Leakin Park in perpetuity against development and logging. This beautiful forest, so important as “green lungs” for the city and animal and bird habitat, boasts 18 miles of public walking, hiking, and biking trails with striking vistas of rock outcrops, sylvan hills, and rushing streams. In all the beauty of its different seasons, this forest is an important place of natural respite for the city’s diverse population. 

Second, please support the addition of the park’s preserved forest to the Old Growth Forest Network, the ‘only national organization focused solely on identifying, protecting, and restoring old-growth forests.’ Baltimore will be recognized as being the city with one of the first and largest truly urban forests to join the Network. Membership will bring positive attention and eco-tourism to our city.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests.

Baltimore is a great city, let’s recognize that by protecting our remarkably valuable urban forest!