John F. Wilson, an associate director of the Stewardship Group in Land Acquisition and Planning for DNR, said comparing natural resources to the "infrastructure" of roads, bridges, electric power stations and other man-made projects was a way to encourage people to think about trees, streams and undeveloped land collectively as something that is serving a purpose.
"We wanted to get people thinking of it in these terms to get them to value it and protect it," Wilson said.
The state has a "GI" plan, as do several other counties, including Baltimore and Prince George's counties, whose work in this field is considered "exemplary," Conn said.
Feldmark said the "argument isn't hard to make that without clean air and water we're in trouble. … This is fundamental to our role in protecting the [Chesapeake Bay]."
It's an infrastructure that requires little construction, but "without thinking about it, it's something we could easily lose," he said.
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