GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. (a) The main effort by the Commonwealth to achieve and maintain a desired level of environmental quality has been in response to existing and potential pollution of the air, land and water resources vital to the health and welfare of the general public. Periodic crises created by conflicts between unplanned human activities and the finite assimilative capacities of these natural resources have done much to shape environmental priorities. The need for clean air and water and values derived from them is immediate and clear. However, the continued maintenance of the environmental quality of this Commonwealth requires a broadening of this environmental perspective to include other needs that may not be as immediate or conspicuous to most people as air and water pollution but that are equally important in the long term. One such aspect is the need to retain the diversity of the natural heritage of this Commonwealth.
2. (b) The natural environment of this Commonwealth has undergone dramatic transformation since 1776. The abundant natural resources found throughout this Commonwealth served as economic stimulants for statewide growth and development. Today, Pennsylvania is the fourth most populous state in the Union, the second-ranking industrial state, the third largest producer of coal, and the fourth in mineral production. This level of growth and intensity of resource use in a state ranked 33rd in land area has had a significant impact on the composition and character of the original environment. Only about 2.0% of the presettlement landscape remains essentially unaltered or has reestablished a biological composition similar to presettlement conditions.

3. (c) From this small percentage of relatively undisturbed land and from those lands where natural conditions have been restored are sites containing components of the natural diversity of this Commonwealth commonly referred to as natural areas. A natural area is a tract of land or water or a combination of land and water, containing representative or unusual communities or ecosystems of plants and animals, rare and endangered species or outstanding geologic, hydrologic or topographic features. These areas are in public or private ownership, are managed primarily to maintain natural processes, and are of scientific or educational interest. Together natural areas should provide a system of protected reserves for preserving all components of natural diversity in this Commonwealth. Natural areas include but are not limited to such things as the following:

   1. (1) Habitats of rare, threatened or endangered plant and animal species.
   2. (2) Unique, unusual or outstanding concentrations or diversities of plants or animals.
   3. (3) Representative examples of plant or animal communities of presettlement origin or present day conditions.
   4. (4) Geologic and hydrologic features of special interest.
   5. (5) Topographic features illustrative of representative or unique biogeological patterns.
4. (d) Although there are additional components yet to be identified and protected, many of the natural areas established throughout this Commonwealth by government and nongovernment agencies and organizations form the nucleus for preserving the natural diversity of this Commonwealth. The total amount of land is relatively small, but its overall significance outweighs its limited size.