The Maryland Tree Farm Program and the MD Department of Natural Resources – Forest Service would like to announce Poynton Manor Farm, LLC. as the 2015 Charles County Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year. Poynton Manor Farm, LLC. owns 512 acres of wooded land and has been a certified Tree Farm for 23 years. The farms received the award for the recognition of their dedication to sound forest stewardship and sustainable management practices. The land owned by Poynton Manor Farm, LLC. is used for agriculture, forest products, wildlife habitat, and hunting and fishing opportunities. In the past five years there have been several timber harvests and around 150 acres has been allowed to naturally regenerate into woodland. Approximately 40 acres is managed specifically for wildlife habitat and provides riparian buffers to protect the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. The farm is used for other recreation opportunities such as hunting, trapping, and fishing on Burgess Creek, a tributary to Nanjemoy Creek. The land has been in the same family since 1932 and has provided forest products that have been used for a variety of purposes. These included timbers and boards that built many of the tobacco barns in western Charles County, timbers used at the Indian Head Naval Ordinance Station, and firewood donated to local organizations. Until the most recent timber harvest, all of the work at Poynton Manor, including operation of a small sawmill, was completed by the family.
The American Tree Farm System is a nationwide program to encourage private forest landowners to do an effective job of growing trees as a crop, with the added benefits of improved wildlife habitat, watershed protection, outdoor recreation and aesthetic value. The first Tree Farm was established in 1941 in Washington State.
