Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland — CUMBERLAND — Numerous state senators and delegates, including the District 1 delegation, have written to the Maryland Forest Service asking Director Steve Koehn to suspend a policy that prohibits alcoholic beverage consumption within state forests.
Although the ban has been in place for about four months, its existence just recently came to public attention by way of articles in the Times-News. Koehn said the ban was enacted administratively and did not require a public meeting process.
In a March 25 letter, the elected officials wrote to Koehn, “It is problematic, to say the least, that we must become aware of such a broad and sweeping policy change through media reports rather than an open dialogue with your office.
“Although we agree that there is good intent behind the alcohol ban, we are concerned that your department did not feel it was necessary to hold public meetings ... Further, such a policy may have a chilling effect on the sale of licenses and other related fees.”
The representatives go on to request a suspension of the ban until public meetings are held to discuss it.
Koehn said Monday morning via e-mail that he had not yet received the letter and, thus, could not react to it.
There are 138,288 acres of state forest in Maryland, 83 percent of which lie in Allegany and Garrett counties, according to numbers posted on the agency’s Web site.
Alcoholic beverage merchants such as Bill Schoenadel of Bill’s Place in Little Orleans and industry representatives such as John Stakem of Frostburg have objected to the new prohibition.
Stakem, who is president of the Allegany County Liquor Dealers Association, said he will travel to Annapolis on Wednesday in an attempt to be heard.
Sgt. Art Windemuth of the Maryland Natural Resources Police said Monday that during 2009 officers dealt with 12 incidents in Savage River State Forest and 59 in Green Ridge that are categorized as criminal and/or alcohol. An exact breakdown of how many definitely were related to the consumption of alcohol was not available.
Windemuth said alcohol-related incidents can range from underage drinking to assaults and other violent crimes.
The average number of officers who are available to patrol state forests along with their other duties is five in each of Allegany and Garrett counties, he said.
A little over a year ago, the Maryland Park Service prohibited strong drink in day-use areas, and in November expanded the ban to campgrounds. According to an online statement by the Department of Natural Resources, the ban is also in place for wildlife management areas.
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