An interactive GIS targeting program has been developed in ArcView to identify promising sites for reforestation. The Lower Western Shore Tributary Team and American Forests are partners in a pilot project to identify and reach out to landowners of high-priority sites in Anne Arundel County. Videos about Stream ReLeaf and riparian forest buffers are available. A hands-on Stream Table model demonstrates watershed runoff with and without buffers, showing how buffers help filter water and reduce floods. A model curriculum on Stream ReLeaf is available for teachers of middle school students for performance-based assessment.
Students search for information on the Internet, contact DNR foresters, and plan buffer plantings.
New incentives programs are available for landowners. Maryland is the first state to develop the enhanced program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The Maryland Stream ReLeaf Implementation Plan is available below. The Plan is a product of collaboration by the Stream ReLeaf Coordinating Committee, which includes representatives from state, federal, and local government, nonprofit conservation organizations, citizen's groups and advisory boards, and industry associations. The Plan lays out a process for developing local, watershed-based plans to establish buffers working through Maryland's Tributary Teams.