When the Board of Public Works meets tomorrow to decide whether to preserve almost 25,000 acres of Maryland forest, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp will be sitting in the hot seat.

The three-member board, which also includes Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, must approve all major state expenditures. This $19 million item, coming as it does in the midst of the largest projected budget shortfall in more than a decade, is a doozy.

Glendening, who has seen 294,000 acres preserved during his eight years in office, is pushing for approval. "It's good for the environment, wildlife and the economy," he said.

Schaefer, distressed by the projected shortfall of nearly $1.8 billion, is against it. "I can't go for that," he said. "We ought to postpone it. When we have the money -- OK."

That leaves Kopp, who as of yesterday had not decided. "I am torn on this," she said.

She has received letters and e-mail and telephone messages from all the state's major environmental groups, lobbying in favor of the plan. She also has received missives from lawmakers and residents. "I would say they're split," she said -- even members of the House Appropriations Committee.

Kopp, a Montgomery County delegate until she was elected treasurer in February, is the General Assembly's representative on the board. She is supposed to vote according to the will of the legislature, the members of which are slated to vote on her re-election early next year.

Some key lawmakers, including leading budget experts Del. Howard P. Rawlings and Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, as well as Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, have opposed the plan as unaffordable.

"It's a day late and a dollar short," said Miller. "It's a wonderful proposal for very flush times. But now we have to balance our priorities, and we should be tilting toward human needs and not land preservation."

But, Miller added, Del. Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel Democrat, is the one whose opinion is paramount in this instance. Busch has been nominated to be the next House speaker, and his 141-member chamber outnumbers the Senate by a 3-to-1 ratio.

During a recent conversation with Kopp about the matter, he gave her little guidance. "We all have an extreme amount of confidence in the treasurer," Busch said. "I said, 'Look, use your best judgment.'"

Long term, short term

Kopp is trying to do just that. She has sent a list of questions to administration officials and discussed the matter with Glendening.

"As a former member of the Appropriations Committee, I understand what the legislature is going through in terms of the budget, and I am very sympathetic to the problems that the state faces," she said. "On the other hand, if this is a case of being able to save 25,000 acres now or lose them forever, that's a very important decision. ... That's the problem: reconciling the short term and the long term."

According to the deal, which would be the second-largest preservation effort in Maryland history, the state would buy development rights to about 21,000 acres of forest spread across seven counties on the Eastern Shore and in Southern Maryland.

The state also would buy outright nearly 4,000 acres abutting other land it manages. A third entity, the Forestland Group, would buy the 21,000 acres (which could not be developed) to use for timbering.

The Conservation Fund, a national environmental group, is negotiating the sale with the owner, Glatfelter Pulp Wood Co., which wants the funding in place before it presents the proposal to its board of directors. For financial reasons, the company wants to complete negotiations before the end of the year.

The purchase would cost the state approximately $20 million (down from $22 million two weeks ago). The state Department of Natural Resources says the bulk of the money -- $12 million -- would come from the sale of bonds through the state's GreenPrint program.

The other $8 million would come from Program Open Space -- funds that are budgeted for that purpose.

Questions

Kopp knows all these facts, but she still has questions. What do the local governments in the seven counties think about it? Is there another buyer who will grab the land if the state doesn't? If it's good for timbering, why doesn't Glatfelter want to keep it? Is it necessary to buy the property and easements to preserve the land, or could the state do it through present zoning? Could the state buy some, but not all, of the land?

"Most of the people I have talked to, by the way, think that at least most parcels are clearly worth preserving. There's not a lot of question about that," she said. "The question is whether there's a way to do it without spending $8 million."

Assuming that her questions are answered, Kopp will have to make up her mind by tomorrow morning. Still, one aspect of the proposal bothers her.

Kopp said Glatfelter demanded that the land deal, which Glendening says has been about two years in the making, be kept confidential until about three weeks ago.

That means she and other policy makers have rushed to gather the facts and weigh them responsibly.

"To keep it quiet," she said, "is not a good way to run government."