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“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. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

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Home : What Will Pennsylvania Look Like in Fifty Years?

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What Will Pennsylvania Look Like in Fifty Years?

Graphic Representation of Conserved & Developed Lands in Pennsylvania in 2008

*Based on Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 2003 statistical update of 1997 National Resources Inventory and 299 acres/day development rate from 2003 to 2008; and **Based on inventory table.

See below for three possible futures.

Scenario A: Business As Usual

Assumption: Land consumption continues upward trend to average 600 acres/day.

Land consumption has doubled over the 1992-1997 rate. Considering that land consumption TRIPLED between 1982 and 1997, this projection may considerably understate future land consumption.

Scenario B: Growth Management

Assumption: Land consumption slows to 1992-1997 rate of 99 acres/day.

Pennsylvania in 50 years will be as developed as the New Jersey of today. New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state with 37% of its land developed.

Scenario C: New Paradigm

Assumption: Land consumption contracts to the 1982-87 rate of 100 acres/day.

Dramatically higher energy prices and/or a total reworking of the state’s infrastructure investment policies and land use laws result in more efficient development.

Comments

Oldest first | Newest first

Marion M Kyde on 06-01-2010 02:12 PM

More densely developed than New jersey? Awful to contemplate. All of us have to work harder and smarter.

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The people of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association envision a prosperous Pennsylvania, where communities know that their treasured green places will endure. We envision a Commonwealth where the lands that guarantee our water quality are safeguarded; where every child can safely play at a nearby park; where our productive farmland and forests are protected, securing our food and timber supply; and where wild places are preserved for wildlife and people.

Thank you to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for supporting the Association’s conservation efforts.

© 2012 Pennsylvania Land Trust Association