By Fredrick Kunkle, Published: February 14
The bill passed unanimously, but not before Sen. George C. Edwards, a Republican who represents Garrett County, lightly chastised fellow lawmakers for setting aside more land as pristine wilderness without fully considering the economic impact on the people who live there.
“There’s some people here that would like to buy the whole county and put a fence up and a gate, and run everybody out, and say, ‘Here’,” Edwards said in an interview. “But you have to understand people live there and make a living off the land.”
Supporters of the bill backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said the measure will help slow development and provide Marylanders with more room for hiking, fishing and other noninvasive forms of recreation in the outdoors.
