Savage River State Forest - History

History

In 1800, there were roughly 1000 settlers who lived in Garrett County. But cheap land, improved transportation and growth along the eastern seaboard led to a settlement boom. The national road was completed in 1818 and the rail road arrived in 1852. The transportation system better connected the resource rich Garrett County to the growth needs of the east. Increased quantities of lumber, coal and wheat were shipped east.

By the early 1900’s, narrow gauge railroads were used to facilitate logging on steeper slopes as the demand for wood products continued to increase. The result was that Garrett County was heavily cut-over, essentially clear cut, within a 20 year period. The train engines frequently caused forest fires in the tops and slash that were left from the clear-cutting. As a result of the fires, a new forest was created. This legacy we can see today as most of our older forests are the same age and are approximately 100 years old.

In part, as a reaction to the rapid cutting of trees and the burning that was taking place, the Garrett Brothers, in 1906 gave 2000 acres to the state with the proviso that an agency would be created to manage the property and to institute scientific forestry- this led to the birth of the Maryland Forest Service. The rapid exploitation of the forests came to an end by the 1930s and logging companies moved west or converted to coal mining. The early efforts of the MD Forest Service were primarily fire suppression.

On January 8, 1929, the state purchased 9,352 acres of cut-over forest land from the N.U. Bond Company. This was the beginning of Savage River State Forest. Since that time there has been a number of acquisitions both big and small. Now Savage River State Forest consists of 54,324 acres.

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps assisted the forest service with fire suppression efforts, tree planting, and constructing facilities for recreational activities. The CCC boys helped with the early snow skiing activities on the forest – later to become New Germany State Park. They helped build many trails where hiking, biking, horseback riding, and ORV riding are still taking place.