Pennsylvania Legacies

At 96, Thomas Dolan is part of a very exclusive club: surviving founders of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. As we mark the 50th Earth Day this week, we continue our celebration of PEC's own semi-centennial with reflections from someone who was there when it all began.

Pennsylvania's trout season opened as scheduled earlier this week, but anglers must abide by the same social distancing rules that apply in any public place. PA Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Tim Schaefer discusses the agency's response to COVID-19.

In this time of social distancing, one of the best and safest ways to stay connected with nature is by getting to know the creatures in your own backyard -- especially the myriad bird species migrating to or through Pennsylvania this time of year. PEC's resident birder, Cindy Ferguson, explains why there's never been a better time to take up the hobby.

As investors grow wary of fossil fuels and big companies prioritize sustainability, where will Pennsylvania fit in the post-carbon economy? Analysis from Steven Clarke and Alli Gold-Roberts of Ceres, a nonprofit that advocates for clean energy in the business community.

Community supported agriculture gives subscribers access to fresh, locally grown produce without the trouble and expense of growing it themselves. Community solar does the same thing for renewable energy -- creating economic opportunity for communities, savings for ratepayers, resiliency and efficiency for the grid, and cleaner air for the planet. But community solar could also be a lifeline for s...

The Circuit Trails initiative is starting 2020 with a full slate of projects and a hefty funding boost courtesy of Montgomery County. We talk with Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, Circuit advocate and chair of Montco's Board of Commissioners, and PEC's own Patrick Starr, who serves as vice chair of the Circuit Trails Coalition.

The Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) provides support for community watershed organizations to build capacity and coordinate more effectively with one another. This spring they’re taking their show on the road, with regional workshops planned for six locations all over the state. Program manager Tali MacArthur has a preview of the workshop series and more from the 2020 PO...

Chuck Flink wrote the book on greenways -- literally. 1993's "Greenways: A Guide To Planning Design And Development," co-authored with Robert Searns and addressed to the planning community, helped launch a global movement in landscape architecture. Now he's making the case for greenways to a broader audience in his new book, "The Greenway Imperative: Connecting Communities & Landscapes for a Susta...

The five finalists for 2020 River of the Year represent everything that’s right – and everything that’s wrong – with Pennsylvania’s 86,000 miles of rivers and streams. With online voting set to close in a matter of days, we hear campaign pitches from the sponsoring organizations that nominated them.

Back in January, PEC published a list of legislative and regulatory recommendations for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from Pennsylvania's electricity sector. Since then, the governor and legislative leaders have embraced one of the report's key ideas: putting a price on carbon and investing the proceeds in clean energy innovation. Where is the decarbonization agenda headed in 2020? Senior VP fo...

Trails beautify neighborhoods and make communities more livable -- but that's only the beginning. A 2019 report from the East Coast Greenway Alliance shows how every dollar spent developing the ECG corridor through the Delaware River Watershed comes back almost twofold in benefits to public health, local economies, transportation safety and efficiency, and the environment. ECG Mid-Atlantic Coordin...

In a state that's nearly 60 percent tree-covered, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry has a lot of ground to cover. But thanks to Penn State's Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship training program, DCNR has boots on the ground in every county, connecting Pennsylvanians with vital forest management resources. PEC's Laura England, a newly-minted volunteer Forest Stewar...

This year's GAP Relay -- a 150-mile team footrace along the Great Allegheny Passage -- was the first carbon neutral trail relay in the nation. Troy Schooley of race organizer p3r talks about the movement toward sustainability in endurance sports, and Allegheny Trail Alliance director Bryan Perry explains why the partnership is good for the GAP and the trails community.

An executive order signed by Governor Tom Wolf last week initiates the rulemaking process whereby Pennsylvania will join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state effort to cut carbon emissions using market-based mechanisms. Policy expert Franz Litz, one of RGGI's original architects, explains how it works and what the transition will mean for Pennsylvania.

You've heard of the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition (IHTC) and its vision for 1,500 miles of interconnected trails across the Rust Belt. But did you know that more than half of those miles are already open, and packed with things to see and do? The recently updated and expanded Trail Trips collection has everything you need to plan an unforgettable IHTC adventure. Its creator, Amy Camp, offe...

Allegheny College's "Creek Connections" program gets students out of the classroom and into local waterways for a hands-on learning experience. Watershed educator Laura Branby explains how Creek Connections is sparking kids' interest in the sciences and building their relationship with the natural world.

In honor of Ohiopyle, PA’s bid for Top Adventure Town honors in the “Tiny Towns” division, a tiny podcast episode to tide you through the holiday weekend. Anna Weltz of the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau drops in to ask for your vote in the competition sponsored by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine. The first round closes Monday, so vote now to keep Pennsylvania in the running! Top Adventure Town vot...

The end goal of any trail project is to create a public asset that's accessible, welcoming, and beneficial to everyone in the community. But to succeed, inclusivity has to be baked into every project from its inception. Julia Raskin, trail planner and author of PEC's new Inclusionary Trail Planning Toolkit, explains how.

The governors of five Great Lakes states, including Pennsylvania's Tom Wolf, are banding together in an effort to make the health of the lakes a campaign issue in the 2020 presidential election. We dive into the Great Lakes 2020 Platform in conversation with Gov. Wolf's Deputy Chief of Staff, Sam Robinson.

Though Pennsylvania enjoys an abundance of world-class opportunities for outdoor recreation, access is often limited by racial, socioeconomic, and other disparities. For Pennsylvanians with disabilities, adventure sports like kayaking can be especially difficult to break into. But proponents of "adaptive paddling" – like Larry Gioia of Pittsburgh-based Dynamic Paddlers – are working to knock down...

Pennsylvania Legacies is on summer break through mid July. We leave you with an audio postcard from the recent unveiling of two exciting new improvements along Bucks County's Delaware & Lehigh Trail.

It's not just Pennsylvania -- trails and greenways are becoming must-have amenities for communities throughout the U.S. and around the world. But the trend isn't universal, and the scarcity of trails in many areas is reflected in lower public health, wellness, and quality-of-life ratings. We assess the global trails landscape in conversation with Mike Passo of American Trails, the national nonprof...

Through research, activism, and thought leadership, colleges and universities have always been the vanguard of the sustainability movement. But, like any large enterprise, most are also voracious consumers of energy and resources. The University of Pittsburgh is one in a growing number of schools that are leveraging their operational scale to maximize efficiency and minimize environmental impacts....

As Ben Franklin wrote, “when the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” But how do you calculate the value of water resources in dollars and cents? Researcher Spencer Phillips, Ph. D., unpacks the far-reaching economic impacts of water quality in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands. Phillips is the lead author of an innovative new study funded by the Department of Conservation and Natur...

Pennsylvania has one of the nation’s most extensive state park-and-forest systems, and for decades it’s been growing in size as well as popularity. But funding for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) hasn’t kept pace with that growth. As a result, a new Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation (PPFF) report warns, DCNR is facing a $1 billion backlog in delayed maintenance...