How does Maryland map its conservation programs and the areas they target?
For many years Maryland Departments of Natural Resources and Planning have maintained digital maps in a Geographic Information System (GIS) of many of the areas conserved or protected from development. By sharing these and other GIS data, a map was created that illustrates land protection efforts in the State. This map, updated periodically with new information, shows areas already protected and those areas Maryland will focus efforts on to protect. These areas, called Targeted Ecological Areas (TEA’s), represent the most ecologically valuable areas – the best of the best – and will provide the most “bang-for-the-conservation-buck.” These lands include large blocks of forests and wetlands, wildlife and rare species habitats, streams and watersheds with aquatic biodiversity, forests important for protecting water quality, coastal ecosystems, lands important for climate change adaptation, and areas supporting important fisheries.
Click on the Interactive Map Button (below) to use an interactive mapping system. Unless you are familiar with these systems please visit the Tutorial or User Guide first. It may help you navigate through the map more easily the first time you use the map. You will have the ability to zoom in and out, pan around the map and turn on and off many of the map “layers.”
What's New
Combining color-coded maps, information layers, and ariel photography with public openness and transparency, this valuable new tool applies the best environmental science and geographic information systems to the urgent work of preserving and protecting environmentally critical lands today. Greenprint is not only informing our land conservation decisions today, but also building a broader and better informed public consensus for sustainable growth and land preservation decisions into the future.