Pennsylvania Environmentalists - History Facts and Quiz
Chesapeake Challenge / By Kathleen Gaskell - Bay Journal
Here is a list of distinguished Pennsylvania environmentalists. Can you match them up with their descriptions?
MIRA LLOYD DOCK
ROSALIE BARROW EDGE
J. HORACE MCFARLAND
1. This Pennsylvanian was a dedicated activist in the City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg, which developed parks and recreational opportunities along the Susquehanna River around the turn of the last century. Other efforts-aimed at protecting both the public's and the river's health-worked to keep garbage and raw sewage out of the river. In 1901, she was the first woman to be selected to a state government post when she was appointed to the State Forestry Reservation Commission, which was charged with inspecting and acquiring land for state forests. While on the commission, she introduced a resolution to keep refuse out of any waterway in a state forest.
2. While best known for his works about the West, this famous essayist and novelist is said to have credited his early life in Indiana County with creating his literary voice. The state road marker near his home in Home, PA, states that "his books, such as "Appalachian Wilderness," "The Journey Home," and "The Fool's Progress" describe his native county, where he learned to love nature."
3. Pennsylvania's Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, a critical stopping point for hawks while migrating along the Appalachian Flyway, owes its existence to this environmentalist. Appalled by photographs showing great numbers of hawks shot as they flew over the area-they were regarded as pests and had a bounty on their heads-she leased 1,400 acres of land in the vicinity and hired wardens to keep hunters out. Unable to persuade the Audubon Society to buy the property, she raised $3,500 on her own to purchase the land and protect the hawks, which rapidly increased in number soon after.
4. This Pennsylvanian was the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service. He is known for developing the "ethics of resource conservation" in which he stated that resources should be managed for "the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time."
5. This man is considered the father of American botany. Although his education was limited, he read extensively about medicinal plants. He started what has been called the first botanical garden in North America. Later, he traveled extensively in the East and sent seeds, cuttings and specimens to botanists and botanical gardens throughout Europe. One of these recipients, Carolus Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, called him the "greatest natural botanist in the world."
6. This Pennsylvanian was one of the first to advocate for sustainable agriculture and organic farming and was also the founder of Prevention magazine.
7. This early North American naturalist is known for his illustrations of plants and birds and has been called the Father of Pennsylvania Ornithology. He traveled extensively and was one of the first to write about nature using both scientific and personal perspectives.
8. This man left Scotland to teach in the Philadelphia area. He met William Bartram, who piqued his interest in birds so much that he decided to travel extensively so that he might write about and illustrate all the the bird species in North America. His work, American Ornithology, was nine volumes long and featured 268 species, earning him the title, Father of American Ornithology.
9. This Pennsylvanian was another activist in Harrisburg's City Beautiful movement, which included the creation of Riverfront Park and Wildwood Lake Sanctuary. In the mid-1900s, he was an advocate of using zoning and city planning to prevent sprawl. His is called the Father of the National Park Service because of his efforts to garner support for it within the government and from the U.S. public.
10. This self-taught artist, naturalist and photographer is best known for his lifelike paintings and sketches which appeared in Pennsylvania's Game News, National Geographic, National Wildlife, and Sports Afield, to name a few. He is also the author of the nature writing classic, "Gone for the Day." It is the mission of a center that bears his name to "merge the worlds of nature and the arts, and to foster a celebration of both."
1. Mira Lloyd Dock
2. Edward Abbey
3. Rosalie Barrow Edge
4. Gifford Pinchot
5. John Bartram
6. Jerome Rodale
7. William Bartram
8. Alexander Wilson
9. J. Horace McFarland
10. Ned Smith
Kathleen A. Gaskell, the layout & design editor for the Bay Journal, has been involved with several environmental programs for children.
Article from Bay Journal - Jan 2008
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