Sustaining the New Pennsylvania

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Sustaining the New Pennsylvania

• Improving Quality of Life through Responsible
  Growth,
• Land Conservation and
• Water Quality Improvements

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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• Our economy continues to lag.
• Pennsylvanians are spreading out to suburbs and
  abandoning older communities.
• Land consumption outpaces population growth.
• We are losing the next generation of managers,
  civic leaders and investors.
• Our natural resources are in trouble.

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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• Our economy continues to lag
• We are 47th in job growth.
• No state lost more young workers than Pa. between
  1990 and 2000.
• Every region of the state under performed the
  nations economic growth.
• We are 44th in new business start-ups.

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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• Pennsylvanians are spreading out to suburbs and
  abandoning older communities
• We are losing about 110,000 acres of open lands a
  year nearly the size of Delaware County.
• Development consumes almost 300 acres of open
  space each day.

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Improving Quality of Life
Pennsylvanians are spreading out to suburbs and
abandoning older communities
Population, 1930 - 2000
Source Center for rural Pennsylvania
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Source The Brookings Institution, Center on
Urban and Metropolitan Policy
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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• Land consumption outpaces population growth
• Pa. was the third slowest-growing state during
  the 1990s.
• We urbanized 4 acres for every new resident
  between 1982-97, more than any other state but
  Wyoming.
• Between 1982-1997, we have tripled the rate of
  open lands lost to development.

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Improving Quality of Life
Land consumption outpaces population growth
Urbanized acres per new resident , 1982-1997
Source USDA Natural Resources Inventory, U.S.
Census Bureau
Source The Brookings Institution, Center on
Urban and Metropolitan Policy
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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• We are losing the next generation of managers,
  civic leaders and investors
• Only four of 67 counties gained residents between
  25 and 34 in the 1990s.
• Pa. is 48th in population growth.
• Only West Va. and North Dakota grew more slowly.

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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• In the new economy, environmental quality has
  become important not simply as an end in itself,
  but as a prerequisite for attracting new talent.
• -- Richard Florida, Heinz Chair Professor of
  Regional Economics, Carnegie Mellon University
  Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

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Improving Quality of Life
Young people are leaving the state for more
vibrant areas
Change age 25 - 34 cohort, 1990 - 2000
Source U.S. Census Bureau
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Source The Brookings Institution, Center on
Urban and Metropolitan Policy
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Improving Quality of Life
The Problem

• Our natural resources are in trouble
• Pa. has 2,100 miles of waterways polluted from
  acid mine drainage. Only 14 of stream miles are
  rated good quality habitat for fish.
• Pa. leads all states in the number of abandoned
  mines.
• Facility repair and improvements needed in state
  parks tops 200 M.
• Fish and Boat/ Game commissions have 100 M in
  capital needs.

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Investment Strategy
The Response
By protecting special lands, cleaning up
environmental problems and revitalizing
communities, we increase the quality of life for
all citizens.

• Protecting open spaces
• Environmental cleanup
• Revitalizing Communities

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Investment Strategy
Protecting Open Spaces -- 330 M

• Threatened open spaces -- 100 M
• Farmland preservation -- 100 M
• State Parks rehab and improvements --
  80 M
• Fish/Boat and Game facility improvements --
  50 M

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Investment Strategy
Environmental Cleanup -- 300 M

• Abandoned mines -- 100 M
• Rivers and Streams -- 80 M
• Energy Harvest -- 80 M
• Brownfields -- 40 M

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Investment Strategy
Revitalizing Communities -- 170 M

• Community Parks -- 80 M
• Community Redevelopment -- 90 M and
  Housing

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DCNRs Investment
260 M for DCNR will be used to

• Restore and enhance
• state parks 80 M
• Revitalize communities
• through recreation and
• conservation 80 M
• Conserve open space 100 M

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DCNRs Investment
Restoring and Enhancing State Parks--80 M

• DCNR has one of the largest park systems in the
  country --116 state parks, attracting 36 million
  annual visitors.
• Presque Isle State Park attracts more visitors
  annually than Yellowstone National Park.
• Parks support tourism and economic development in
  rural communities.
• Outdoor related expenditures account for
  one-third of all leisure travel expenditures in
  Pennsylvania. Thirty-seven percent of all outdoor
  travelers visited state lands.
•  

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DCNRs Investment
Restoring and Enhancing State Parks

• We can not compete for tourism dollars with aging
  facilities, poor roads, pit latrines, outdated
  showers, and campgrounds with no electricity.
• Repair and improvement projects are estimated at
  around 200 M. New repairs add about 12-15 M
  each year to this total.
•  

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DCNRs Investment
Restoring and Enhancing State Parks

• New investments will create better amenities,
  improve visitor services, and assure visitor
  safety.
• With additional funds, DCNR expects to meet its
  goal of electrifying 5,000 campsites virtually
  eliminate all pit latrines bring all sewer and
  water systems up to standard and make all
  day-use facilities accessible for people with
  disabilities.
•  
• Our focus will be on improvements that generate
  additional revenues, i.e. electric campsites,
  new overnight accommodations, recreational
  programming.
•  

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DCNRs Investment
Revitalizing Communities -- 80 M

• Pa. Recreation and Parks Society estimates that
  40 M is needed annually for recreation and
  conservation projects just in older communities.
• DCNR can only fund about 40 of current
  applicants for community parks and recreation.
• Millions in matching funds are lost.
•  

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DCNRs Investment
Revitalizing Communities

• Parks, riverfront access, trails, and greenways
  all add value to a community.
• An 80 M investment will leverage another 80 M
  in community recreation and conservation.
• An 80 M investment could build 34 new pools,
  rehab 66 existing pools, build 300 new play
  fields, develop 500 miles of multipurpose trails,
  and build 800 new pavilions.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces -- 100 M

• At the current rate of loss, 20 percent or more
  of the Commonwealths unprotected forests, fields
  and open space lands may disappear in the next 20
  years.
• This also affects the vital economic, ecological,
  geological, and quality of life values and
  benefits these lands and special places provide.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• DCNR will use the 100 million to help
• Support community open space conservation
• Conserve working forests
• Protect existing state park and forest lands
• Acquire high value lands

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Support community open space
• Pa. ranks fifth in the nation for land lost to
  development.
• Most of these acres are being lost in suburban
  townships.
• DCNR is only able to fund about half of the 25 M
  requested annually for community open space
  protection each year.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Support community open space
• When given the chance, citizens are embracing
  land conservation.
• In 2002, all 13 Pa. open space referenda passed
  with an average vote of 70 support.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Support community open space
• Grants will be targeted to meet the need of
  rapidly growing communities where open space has
  been identified as a priority.
• Municipalities, non-profit organizations,
  watershed groups and conservancies would be
  eligible.
• DCNR expects that with this additional funding,
  17,500 acres of threatened community open space
  can be protected.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Conserve working forests
• 500,000 private forest landowners own about 75
  percent of the Commonwealths forestland.
• 95 percent do not have a plan to manage their
  forests.
• Privately owned forests support the states 5
  billion timber industry, and an even larger
  outdoor recreation industry.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Conserve working forests
• Investment to conserve privately owned
  conservation easements will sustain our forests
  and the timber industry.
• Our goal is protect working forests, water
  quality, wildlife corridors and recreation.
• It is a voluntary program with private
  landowners, local governments and conservation
  organizations.
• DCNR investments in conservation easements could
  potentially protect 30,000 acres of privately
  owned forests and 1,200 miles of riparian
  buffers.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Protect existing state park and forest lands
• Development along the borders threatens state
  park and forestlands.
• Pockets of privately held lands within parks and
  forests create fragments that pose management
  challenges.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Acquire high value conservation lands
• Large blocks of forested
• woodlands are needed to protect
• watersheds and water supplies.
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• Some lands hold significant
• ecological value, or create
• links with existing recreational lands.

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DCNRs Investment
Conserving Open Spaces

• Acquire high value conservation lands
• Theta Lands and Coho are recent examples of high
  value land acquisitions.
• Priority will be on lands that protect water
  quality or important ecological areas or create
  new recreational opportunities or links to
  existing recreation lands and facilities.
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The Future

• The beauty of Pennsylvania its mountains,
  forests, rivers, rural landscapes, open spaces,
  and parks -- are vital assets fundamentally
  linked to our economic future and overall quality
  of life.

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