Deleting them from the map still shouldn't affect the symbol catalog though. After opening the problematic map, did you try and change symbol catalogs to something else, and then back to the vegetation catalog, using the symbol catalog button in the top toolbars?

As for copying thing to a new map, that is easy. You can either copy everything to the clipboard (Edit -> Copy) [Just keep an eye on the prompt to make sure you complete the command properly] and then paste it into another map, or you can use Draw --> Insert File to insert the old map into a new one.

Whatever you do in Symbol Manager in your map only affects what you see in the symbol catalog window when you use :ICON_DRAWING:. No matter how much you mess around, you should be getting the normal view when opening a symbol catalog, for example by clicking a symbol catalog button.

(Only way to mess with the actual symbol catalogs is to open them up for editing using file -> open as opposed to loading them into the symbol catalog window)

If you can't get it working correctly, the best path is to contact tech support and get some official help. You'll find the support form on your registered user pages.

Looks like your effect is set up to "Percent of View Width" instead of map units or percent of drawing extents width. Go in and edit the effect in question, and change this section. Do note that you may need to tweak the size of the effect after doing this, as you basically change the baseline for the sizing.

Note that as with any effect, Edge Fade doesn't work on a per entity basis. What it does is to find areas with a solid fill (i.e.) same color and fades the edge of those areas. This is basically usless to do if your entities have bitmap fills. In other words, this effects is mainly only usefull on a sheet where all the entities have fill style Solid.