PennsWoodsTrust

Our Public Natural Resources

Public natural resources protected under Article I, Section 27 of our state constitution are those natural resources available to us all and essential to our inherent rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They include the air we breathe, the water we drink, and lands we share in common with each other.

We generally accept our public natural resources to include natural resources such as air, water and wildlife, which are not confined by private property boundaries, as well as all the natural resources on public lands in our state managed by various local, state and federal agencies. The public natural resources within our state described below provides an overview of these resources as we generally understand them.

Land Public Natural Resources

State Forest: Over 2.2 million acres of forest in Pennsylvania are managed as part of our State Forest system by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under the State Forest Resource Management Plan.

State Game Lands: Over 1.5 million acres in Pennsylvania are managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission for wildlife habitat as game lands for certain hunting, trapping, and recreational uses.

State Parks: Over 300,000 acres are managed in Pennsylvania as 121 State Parks by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under the Penn’s Parks for All—A Plan for Pennsylvania’s State Parks of Tomorrow.

Local Parks:     Almost 200,000 acres are managed in Pennsylvania as more than 6,000 local parks by municipalities.

National Parks: The National Park Service manages 19 national parks in Pennsylvania.

Other Flowing Water: Water flowing downstream from one private property to another in small streams or natural drainageways that flow during wet weather, or water flowing through ponds and wetlands, is generally considered to be a public natural resource even though the waterways themselves are on private property and not navigable under the common law. While the public would not have access to use this flowing water for fishing, water supply, boating, or other uses without permission of the private landowner, the water itself remains a public natural resource.

Groundwater: Groundwater is an important and abundant natural resource in Pennsylvania, and like most surface water, flows from one property to another. While private landowners can use the groundwater on their property, the quality and quantity of groundwater is protected as a public natural resource.

Climate: Rainfall, temperature, storm events, and other atmospheric conditions can be viewed collectively as climate public natural resources. While climate has natural cycles, we now understand that our emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other pollutants into the atmosphere have increased our average temperatures, altered our air currents, and changed our weather patterns in ways that have consequences for all our public natural resources.

Soil Public Natural Resources

Soil, like air and water, is a natural resource necessary to sustain plant and animal life, including our own. Unlike air and water, the natural movement of soil from one property to another is more limited. Soil on privately owned property is available for use by the property owner, although such use generally must not increase the movement of soil onto adjoining property or into waterways through erosion.

Next Page: Conserving and Maintaining Our Trust Assets