OGFN Wins Its First Court Case Fighting for Centuries-Old Hemlocks in Maryland

Big news! The Old-Growth Forest Network won its first legal fight toward protecting an old-growth forest. The true winner of this case, hopefully, will be the trees that now have a fair chance at being spared from cutting as a bridge is updated in western Maryland. Swallow Falls State Park, an early addition to the Old-Growth Forest Network, contains some of the oldest remaining hemlock trees in the state and the section of trees under threat from the bridge project sit along the Youghiogheny River, with areas protected by the Scenic and Wild River Act of 1968. Additionally, the stand of trees is protected within an Irreplaceable Natural Area. Rather, these trees should be protected but the bridge project appeared to step around these protections with a conditional exception granted by the state.

The plans for an updated bridge involved clearing hundreds of trees to build a new, wider bridge next to the existing one instead of building in the original bridge footprint. OGFN worked with a local land owner, Steve Storck, and pro bono lawyer Dirk Schwenk with the Chesapeake Legal Alliance to raise their concerns that the state Department of Natural Resources shouldn’t grant an arbitrary exception to the state laws that protect these hemlocks. At this point, the project must be revisited with a more comprehensive consideration of the impacts on these protected areas. 

Big thanks to our partners Dirk and Steve for their help speaking up for this vital and irreplaceable forest. 

You can read more about this case here: https://danrodricks.com/2026/06/18/a-win-for-the-trees-of-swallow-falls/