In Maryland, the Critical Area includes all the land that lies within 1,000 feet of tidal waters.
"The Law and Criteria were
designed to foster more sensitive
land use and development
activity along the shoreline of the
Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Coastal
Bays, their tributaries, and tidal
wetlands and to ensure the
implementation of appropriate
long term conservation measures
to protect important habitats." --from Bay Smart
The Critical Areas are mapped and avaiable on the 1972 State Wetlands Maps, and in each municipality. Approximately 680,000 acres of land fall within the Critical Area in Maryland.
Is your home in the Critical Area?
Other protected areas include:
- Streams and stream buffers
- Wetlands and wetland buffers
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