Program Background
The Maryland-Delaware Master Logger Program is a voluntary training and education program for loggers who work in Maryland and Delaware. The program helps loggers meet the ever-increasing demands of the logging profession. The courses provide information about current environmental regulations, forestry principles, and safe work practices.
Maryland-Delaware forests are among the most diverse and productive forests on the continent. From the pine flats and cedar-cypress swamps on the Eastern Shore, to the vast oak-hickory forests rolling through the Piedmont and mountains, Maryland-Delaware residents possess an incredibly resilient and valuable renewable resource.
Maryland-Delaware forests filter our water, keep our fertile soil in place, moderate our temperature, and cleanse our air. Our forests provide a healthy continual supply of raw material for some of the finest furniture and lumber manufacturers in the world.
Our forests are important to our state economies. Private owners like you own 80% of Maryland's 2.6 million acres of forest. These privately owned forests play a large role in the health of Maryland-Delaware's forest products industry. As the eighth largest industry in the State, forest products generate over $2.6 Billion to Maryland-Delaware's economy and employs roughly 15,600 persons. This is an "green" industry, renewing its raw material on a sustainable basis, while providing environmental, recreational, and aesthetic benefits to Maryland and Delaware.
Maryland-Delaware Master Loggers are a vital part of this industry. They understand the many functions of our forests. A Maryland-Delaware Master Logger understands his role as caretaker of this important renewable resource. A Maryland-Delaware Master Logger can help you get what you want today without sacrificing the benefits of tomorrow.
Becoming a Master Logger publicly demonstrates an understanding of safe, environmentally and economically sound timber harvesting practices. The Maryland-Delaware Master Logger Program also works to raise public awareness of the professionals harvesting trees – one of the region’s important renewable resources.
The Maryland-Delaware Master Logger Program is endorsed by the Maryland State Implementation Committee of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program, and administered by University of Maryland Extension and the Master Logger Steering Committee. The Maryland-Delaware Master Logger Program has reciprocal training agreements with Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, allowing the transfer of credits for portions of each state’s programs.