Why Protect Open Space?

Green spaces provide public values benefiting everyone.

Economic Benefits:

Tourism, agriculture, timber production, hunting & fishing, wildlife watching and outdoor recreation pump billions of dollars into Pennsylvania’s economy every year.

Fiscal Benefits:

• Municipalities and schools districts save money by curbing sprawl and the demands it places on infrastructure and public services.
• Protecting working farms and forests saves money, preserves the fabric of communities and ensures fresh, local food supply.

Community & Ecological Benefits:

• Protect drinking water supplies
• Recharge groundwater & aquifers
• Provide habitat for wildlife
• Absorb air pollution
• Cool communities in the summer
• Absorb stormwater & reduce flooding
• Provide recreational & aesthetic values

Each year, America loses five million acres of farms, forests, open spaces and wetlands.

Nationwide, nonprofit organizations have preserved 47 million acres, including nearly 600,000 acres in Pennsylvania.

For more information about land conservation, please visit the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association’s web site at www.conserveland.org, or the national Land Trust Alliance at www.lta.org.