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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.
   
Icon of Ralph Abele 
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.  

 
Icon of John Audubon 

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.

 
  Icon of Kristen Anderson
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.
 
 Icon of John Bartrum 
John Bartram (1690-1777) - Philadelphia, "Father of American Botany."
 
  Icon of Frances Bear
 Frances Bear (1908-2000) was a pioneer of the farmland preservation movement that has grown throughout Pennsylvania.
 
  Icon of Basse Beck
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.
 
   Icon of Ralph Elwood Brock
 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. 

 Icon of Cynthia Shallcross Calhoun 

Cynthia Shallcross Calhoun (1902-1983) was born Nov. 10, 1902, and became a tireless advocate for preserving Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
 
 Icon of Rachel Carson
 Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was born May 27 in Allegheny County and became an ecologist and author of Silent Spring.
   
 Icon of John Chapman a k a Johnny Appleseed
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.
 
 Icon of Gertrude Fox 
 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.
 
  Icon of Rosalie Barrow Edge 
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.
 
 Icon of Gertrude Fox 
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.
  
 Icon of Hilda Vogel Fox 
Hilda Vogel Fox (1898-1990) was born July 25, and became a tireless advocate for preserving Pennsylvania's natural beauty.
   
 Icon of Dr. Maurice K. Goddard
 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.
   
 Icon of Leonard Green
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
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.
 
 Icon of Otto Emery Jennings
 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. 
 
   Icon of Ivan McKeever 
Ivan McKeever (1902-1992) was born on February 13 in Renick, West Virginia, and was instrumental in and an ardent promoter of conservation.
   
 Icon of Jacob Nolde
Jacob Nolde (1859-1916) was born June 8 and lived in Berks County and became a weaver and forester.
   
 Icon of William Penn 
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.
   
 Icon of Gifford Pinchot
 Gifford Pinchot (1865-1964) was born Aug. 11 in Connecticut and lived in Milford and became America's first trained forester, first "conservationist."
   
  Icon of Frank Preston 
Frank W. Preston (1896-1989) - Patler County, Preston Glass Laboratory, helped establish Moraine State Park.
   
 Icon of Jerome Rodale 
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.
 
 Icon of Joseph Rothrock
 Joseph Trimble Rothrock (1839-1922) was born April 9 in McVeytown, Mifflin County and became "Father of Pennsylvania Forestry" and was a medical doctor.
   
  Icon of Ned Smith
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.
 
   Icon of Richard Thorpe
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).
 
     Icon of Bruce Yount
 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.