Pennsylvania Statutes Title 71 P.S. State Government § 1340.101. Findings and statement of purpose

(1) Pennsylvania's public natural resources are to be conserved and maintained for the use and benefit of all its citizens as guaranteed by section 27 of Article I of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.

(2) Pennsylvania's State forests and parks cover almost 2.3 million acres in this Commonwealth and contain some of our State's most precious and rare natural areas.

(3) Pennsylvania has the third largest system of State parks in the United States.

(4) Our State parks and forests and community recreation and heritage conservation areas are critical to the continued success of our tourism and recreation industry, the second largest industry in the State.

(5) Our forest products industry employs over 100,000 people and contributes over $4.5 billion a year to our economy, making it the State's fourth largest industry.

(6) Preserving, enhancing, maintaining and actively managing our system of State parks, forests, community recreation and heritage conservation areas contributes greatly to the quality of life of Pennsylvania's citizens and the economic well-being of the State.

(7) The current structure of the Department of Environmental Resources impedes the Secretary of Environmental Resources from devoting enough time, energy and money to solving the problems facing our State parks and forests.

(8) State parks and forests have taken a back seat to other environmental issues because polluted air and water and toxic waste sites, for example, are more immediate, life-threatening and publicly visible issues than natural resource concerns.

(9) State parks, forests and community recreation and heritage conservation areas have lost out in the competition for financial and staff resources because they have no cabinet-level advocate to highlight these issues for the public.

(1) To create a new Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to serve as a cabinet-level advocate for our State parks, forests, rivers, trails, greenways and community recreation and heritage conservation programs to provide more focused management of the Commonwealth's recreation, natural and river environments. The primary mission of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be to maintain, improve and preserve State parks, to manage State forest lands to assure their long-term health, sustainability and economic use, to provide information on Pennsylvania's ecological and geologic resources and to administer grant and technical assistance programs that will benefit rivers conservation, trails and greenways, local recreation, regional heritage conservation and environmental education programs across Pennsylvania.

(2) To change the name of the Department of Environmental Resources to the Department of Environmental Protection.

(3) To retain the rulemaking powers of the Environmental Quality Board in relation to the Department of Environmental Protection.