Conserving Our Natural Resources
In Pennsylvania’s last Constitution adopted in 1968, it was stated that “the people have a right to
clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the
environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people,
including generations yet to come.”
Having a clean environment—air, water, and land—is critically important to
us. People in state government have been working to improve our environment.
For example, in 1995, the Conservation and Natural Resources Act was
passed. This law created two large state agencies to ensure we have
a clean environment. The first agency is the
Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources (DCNR).
The DCNR is charged withmaintaining and
protecting the state parks and state forests in our state. Our state park and state
forest systems are some of the largest in the United States.
The second agency is the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
. The DEP is charged with
monitoring and improving the quality of our air, water, and land. This would include wastemanagement
and energy sources. In addition, we also have the
Pennsylvania Fish Commission
, which
promotes healthy fish populations. Finally, we have the
Pennsylvania Game
Commission
, which protects our wildlife populations and habitats.
L
ET
’
S
R
EVIEW
1. Define a natural resource.
2. Identify at least fivemajor natural resources found in Pennsylvania.
3. Classify our natural resources as either renewable or non-renewable.
4. List at least threemajor uses of our soil.
5. Identify threemajor purposes for which we use our forests.
6. What are our state’s fossil fuels.
7. List four major products people receive fromour fossil fuels.
8. Identify threemain advantages of using natural gas instead of petroleumor coal.
9. Define amineral resource.
10. List fivemineral resources of Pennsylvania.
11. Identify four Pennsylvania agencies that maintain and improve our environment, and describe the “job”
of each.
Keeping our air, land, and
water clean is extremely
important. Contaminating
our environment withman-
made waste causes harm to
our fragile ecosystem. Our
government works to
regulate pollution and keep
our environment healthy.
In the 2000s, we all need to bemore aware of and attentive to our
environment. Protecting the environment and preventing pollution is not
just our government’s responsibility. All of us are responsible for keeping
our environment safe and healthy for future generations. We need to
work together to solve our environmental problems.
Natural Resources of Pennsylvania
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