“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” – Richard Louv
Forward thinking is in our nature. From Berks Nature’s inception, our founders used observations from the present to prepare for and proactively influence the future. It was this innovative and community-informed leadership that has put us where we are today:
- A county where 25% of the total acreage is protected under easement or government ownership;
- A county where 86% of its municipalities work jointly to plan for sustainable growth;
- A county that harbors 20 Exceptional Value or High Quality streams;
- A county ranked 3rd in the nation for agricultural preservation.
But as we take stock of our world today, we can see plainly that more work is needed to not only address the still lingering threats discerned by Berks Nature’s founders now fifty years ago, but also to resolve emerging issues that we as a community currently face.
Despite the glimmer of pristine watersheds sheltered by the County’s lush woodlands, about 65% of Berks County’s stream miles are considered impaired by the PA Department of Environmental Protection and mean impervious cover has exceeded the functional threshold in eight Berks County watersheds.
Garbage from distant locales is increasingly filling Berks County’s landfills; in 2022, 80% of the waste buried in Berks County came from outside of the county and more than 39% of it came from outside of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, there is also no evidence to suggest that Berks County’s residents are making any significant effort to reduce their individual waste generation either.
While local enthusiasm for the outdoors is high, many areas reserved for Berks County’s greenway network have also been designated for future development, leading to 10,456 acres of encroachment into outdoor recreation spaces.
These threats are exacerbated by globally shifting climate patterns.
Since the late 1800s, Earth’s temperature has increased by about 1.8°F and at our current pace, by the end of the century, global temperatures could climb 3.6-7.2°F. This may not seem like much, but this increase is similar in magnitude to the temperature change that melted the Ice Ages and rose sea levels by 400 ft, but 50 times faster.
Pennsylvania, and Berks County, are already feeling the effects of this change.
The last 22 years have been Pennsylvania’s hottest. Temperatures in the Commonwealth have risen almost 2°F since the beginning of the 20th century and extreme heat, days reaching temperatures above 90°F, are also on the rise.
The 6-year period between 2015 and 2020 were Pennsylvania’s wettest years on record. Not only is more rain falling in Pennsylvania, but the magnitude, frequency, and intensity of extreme rainfall events, dropping two or more inches of rainwater at a time, are also increasing.
As it was 50 years ago, the success of Berks County’s natural resource management and conservation will rely on the investments of our community as a whole. As such, in planning for the next 50 years Berks Nature is consulting both the most recent, environmental data as well as you, our community, for direction.
During the 2023 annual State of the Environment Breakfast, Berks Nature posed this question to an audience of over 300 Berks County residents, students, and policy-makers: in one word, what concerns you most about the environment? The word cloud generated from these responses was telling: pollution, climate change, biodiversity, and sustainability; in short, keeping nature healthy and functional for generations to come in the face of globally shifting conditions.
In Berks County, that means focusing on water, specifically stormwater management; air, the number of “bad” air days experienced in Berks; and the abundance of waste disposed of within the county (despite often originating outside of Berks’ borders).
What will Berks Nature’s role be in readying our county for a sustainable future? In a series of public forums called “50 Conversations for 50 Years,” we once more look to our community.
Though these conversations are still underway, some early and conspicuous trends have already been revealed. With our time, financial, and human resources Berks County has unequivocally prioritized land protection and environmental education.
It is a call all too familiar to Berks Nature. For 50 years ago, in 1974, our founders drafted articles of incorporation which state our purpose as: “To engage in such charitable, scientific, and educational activities…deemed most appropriate to the conservation and preservation of land, forests, and waters with scenic, biologic, geologic, ecological, scientific, historic, or recreational interest or significance.”
Land protection and environmental education for the quality of life of our neighbors; today and in perpetuity.