Giving Thanks - Day Two

We set aside this Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 25-28) as a time to give thanks not only for the resources we share in western Pennsylvania, but for the conservationists who worked to protect them for future generations.

Today, we feature environmentalists who shaped the future of Pennsylvania.

William Penn
William Penn (1644-1718) is known as the founder of Pennsylvania. In 1681, William Penn's “Conditions or Concessions” gave instructions for laying out a large town on the Delaware River and detailed how land was to be sold. With instruction that one acre of forest be preserved for every five acres of land cleared, it became Pennsylvania's first conservation law. The instructions also outline the first parks or public enclosures laid out in North America for the pleasure and convenience of the people. Considering that In 1681, Pennsylvania was covered with a nearly unbroken forest from border to border, Penn's ideas and plans were extraordinarily progressive. more information…

Joseph Trimble Rothrock
As a life-long labor of love, Dr. J. T. (Joseph Trimble) Rothrock educated, cajoled, and lead in the development of an understanding of forestry and the state's role in forestry. He became known as "the father of Pennsylvania forestry," and was at various times (sometimes simultaneously) explorer, surgeon, botanist, professor, lecturer, president of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, editor of Forest Leaves and Pennsylvania Forest Commissioner. Rothrock was energetic, persuasive, involved, and a lover of forests since childhood. Yet he never professed to be a forester. His credentials were largely those of an informed scientist and medical doctor. more information …

Maurice K. Goddard
Maurice Goddard was born in 1912 in Massachusetts and grew up in Kansas. Goddard began teaching courses in forestry in 1935 at the Pennsylvania State University and later became Director of the Forestry School in 1952. In 1955 he was appointed to become Secretary of the newly formed Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, which later became the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. Goddard served in this position until 1979. One of Goddard's more famous proposals advocated for developing a state park within 25 miles of every resident in Pennsylvania. more information …

Today's photo is a view of the Ohiopyle gorge and river, taken in 1999.

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