Pennsylvania's environmental heritage was shaped by people—people who
wanted to have a positive impact on the environment around them. Here
are profiles of just a few of the environmental leaders who contributed
to our heritage—
Edward
Abbey (1927-1989) was born Jan. 29 in Indiana County and became an
author and defender of wilderness, most famous for his two books Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang.
Ralph W. Abele
(1921-1990) was born Aug. 13 in Allegheny County and became a conservationist and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission.
John J. Audubon
(1785-1851) was born April 26 in Haiti and became a naturalist and bird
artist, inspired by living in Mill Grove, Montgomery County from
1803-1806.
Kristine M. Anderson
(1961-1999) was born June 26 in Kersey, Elk County, and became an
outspoken proponent of sound, proactive environmental solutions.
William Bartram (1739-1823) - Philadelphia, "Father of Pennsylvania Ornithology," study of birds. He was son of John Bartram.
John Bartram (1690-1777) - Philadelphia, "Father of American Botany."
Frances Bear (1908-2000) was a pioneer of the farmland preservation movement that has grown throughout Pennsylvania.
Basse Beck
(1896-1974) was born July 5 in Illinois, grew up in Sunbury and became a
business person, general manager of a newspaper and an advocate for
controlling acid mine drainage and returning migrating fish to the
Susquehanna and other rivers.
Jim
Brett (1939-) was born December 7, 1939 in Shillington, Berks County
and became first director of education at Hawks Mountain Sanctuary and
founder of Naturecorp. international student exchange program.
Ralph Elwood Brock
(1881-1958) was a native of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, and the
first African-American to graduate from the Pennsylvania State Forest
Academy.
George Catlin (1796-1872), born in the Wilkes-Barre area of
Northeastern Pennsylvania, was a 19th century portrait and landscape
painter most famous for capturing the landscape, garb, customs and
heritage of Native Peoples. On assignment across many corners of the
frontier landscape, he is cited as putting forth the idea of
conservation in the form of establishing reserved and protected tracks
of land. This idea would come to fruition some generations later with
the conservation and national park movement of Teddy Rossewelt's era.
Cynthia Shallcross Calhoun (1902-1983) was born Nov. 10, 1902, and became a tireless advocate for preserving Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was born May 27 in Allegheny County and became an ecologist and author of Silent Spring.
John Chapman "Johnny Appleseed" (1774-1845) was born Sept. 26 in Massachusetts and lived along French Creek between 1797 and 1804 in Warren County.
Charles
F. Chubb (1877-1960) was from Allegheny County. He was a banker and
first president of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Mira Lloyd Dock (1853-1945) was born Dec. 25 in Delaware County and became a botanist, forester and preservationist.
R.
Emmet Doherty (1906-1994) was a pioneering crusader for clean air
issues in the Lehigh Valley area of Lehigh and Northampton counties in
the 1960s and the mid 1970s.
Rosalie Barrow Edge
(1877-1962) was born Nov. 3, 1877 in New York; conservationist; founder
of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, one of Pennsylvania's premier natural
attractions.
Gertrude Fox
(1916-1995) was a tireless environmentalist, educator, and biologist
who devoted decades of her life to improving the quality of life for
Lehigh Valley residents.
Hilda Vogel Fox (1898-1990) was born July 25, and became a tireless advocate for preserving Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
Dr. Maurice K. Goddard
(1912-1995) was born Sept. 14 in Massachusetts and became a forester,
public servant and Secretary of the Department of Environmental
Resources.
Leonard A. Green
(1929-2000) was born September 29 in Butler County and was for 50 years
a dedicated sportsman and conservationist who became chairman of the
National Wildlife Federation, served on the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission, headed the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and worked to
join the interests of sportsmen and environmentalists.
Samuel Haldeman (1812-1880) was born August 12, 1812 in Locust Grove, and based on his interests in geology, zoology, and entomology, he founded the Philological Society, and was an early member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Richard
James (1935-1998) was born Nov. 8 in Hanover, Pennsylvania and served
as first executive director of the Schuykill Center for Environmental
Education in Philadelphia, where he helped make it a premier
environmental resource facility.
Otto Emery Jennings (1877-1964) was born Oct. 3 in Allegheny County and became a botanist and naturalist in Western Pennsylvania.
Howard
W. Laur Sr. (1926-1998) was born Jan. 30 in Pittsburgh and was a steel
worker, teacher, and a persistent fighter for measures to protect
landowners from damage and water loss caused by underground mining.
Charles
F. Lewis (1890-1962) was from Allegheny County. He was a journalist,
director of the Buhl Foundation and president of Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy.
H.
Lance Martin (1941-1997) was born June 22 in Fayette County and was the
first to help develope the Youghiogheny River's potential as a white
water rafting area.
J.
Horace McFarland (1859-1948) was born Sept. 29 in Juniata County and
became "Father of the National Park Service," printer, preservationist,
photographer, author and rosarian.
Ivan McKeever (1902-1992) was born on February 13 in Renick, West Virginia, and was instrumental in and an ardent promoter of conservation.
Jacob Nolde (1859-1916) was born June 8 and lived in Berks County and became a weaver and forester.
William Penn
(1644-1718) was born Oct. 24 and was the founder of Pennsylvania and
wrote the first conservation law requiring the saving of one acre in
five.
Gifford Pinchot
(1865-1964) was born Aug. 11 in Connecticut and lived in Milford and
became America's first trained forester, first "conservationist."
Frank W. Preston (1896-1989) - Patler County, Preston Glass Laboratory, helped establish Moraine State Park.
Jerome I. Rodale
(1898-1971) was born Aug. 16 in New York City and lived near Allentown
and became a publisher and advocate for sustainable agriculture.
Joseph Trimble Rothrock
(1839-1922) was born April 9 in McVeytown, Mifflin County and became
"Father of Pennsylvania Forestry" and was a medical doctor.
Ned Smith
(1919-1985) was born in Millersburg, Dauphin County and was a
self-trained artist and naturalist and in his 46-year career he created
thousands of astonishingly accurate drawings and paintings of wildlife
for books, magazines and other publications for the Pennsylvania Game
Commission, as well as dozens of limited edition prints.
Richard R. Thorpe
(1929-1996) was born April 17 in Cleveland, Warren County, forester,
Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsman's Club Board member and active in
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
Halfred
W. Wertz (1911-2001) was born April 29 in Duncansville, Blair County
and was a teacher and member of the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy
which named him "Conservationist of the Year" in 2000.
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) - Philadelphia, "Father of American Ornithology" (study of birds).
Bruce A. Yount
(1948-1997) was born November 24 in Erie, Erie County, and became a
tireless public servant, working to improve the environmental quality of
Presque Isle Bay, Presque Isle State Park and Lake Erie.