Healthy Watersheds
Healthy forests positively impact water quality, an issue of vital concern to everyone. Conserving our forests is the easiest and most effective way to ensure that our Commonwealth is provided with clean water for uses like drinking, swimming, and fishing. Here are some ways that forests maintain or improve water quality:
· Forests filter sediment and pollution before they reach our streams and ground water. Forested areas are particularly good at reducing the impacts of agriculture by reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous polluting our streams. Forests provide a natural filtration system that modern technology can't duplicate, money can't buy and that modern society can't afford to lose.
· Forested buffers along streams help improve water quality by stabilizing the stream banks and maintaining proper water temperature. By keeping or restoring watersheds to a predominantly forested condition, we can ensure excellent water quality for drinking, recreation, and the maintenance of the commonwealth's rich freshwater ecosystems.
Clean Air
During photosynthesis trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen for us to breathe. One acre of trees provides enough oxygen for 18 people and absorbs as much carbon dioxide as a car produces in 26,000 miles. Trees also remove sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two major components of acid rain and ozone pollution, from the air.
Biodiversity
Forests provide habitat for a myriad of plants and animals. Many wildlife species, such as bear, elk, deer and songbirds, are important for tourism and recreation and draw people from within the state and across the country. Protecting large unfragmented forests is a powerful tool for preserving and maintaining the state's diversity of life. By guarding the Commonwealth's precious forest resources we can conserve biodiversity at a landscape scale and protect habitat for threatened and endangered species, wide ranging species such as black bear and elk, and species that prefer deep forests such as the ovenbird and cerulean warbler.
Productive Economy
Healthy forests are important for sustaining Pennsylvania's economy. Robust, productive forests provide a sustainable flow of timber for varied wood products industries. In addition, outdoor enthusiasts use our forests year-round and help support our thriving tourism industry. Consider these facts:
· The forest products industry employs more than 200,000 workers and contributes almost $5 billion annually to Pennsylvania's economy, making it the state's fourth largest industry.
· Pennsylvania ranks number one in hardwood production nationally and sixth in value-added processing (the making of raw lumber into finished products of greater value).
· Tourism, the state's second largest industry, is largely comprised of forest-based recreation.
