Restoring water quality in Pennsylvania - AN INVESTMENT

Environmentalists and capitalists alike are applauding Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s administration for its recent decision to give approximately $1 million in grants for planting trees along the streams and rivers across the state. You may wonder why this is important, or how this investment will impact the residents of this state. The answer is simple: These trees are called Riparian buffers, and they’re essential for restoring the environmental balance and the long-term water quality in Pennsylvania.
Riparian buffers are the natural interface between the land and the rivers and streams, and their role is essential in preserving and protecting our environment.  They play an important role in soil conservation, creating habitats, and positively influencing fauna and aquatic ecosystems.  They also naturally purify water through bio filtration; specifically, they play a role in lowering contamination from manure and other fertilizers in surface runoff that would otherwise damage ecosystems and human health.
The buffers across Pennsylvania have eroded over the years due to changing weather patterns, construction, agriculture and commercial development, which have put the ecological health of Pennsylvania in danger.  The good news is that these buffers can be natural or engineered, and Governor Wolf’s administration has decided to partner with individuals in the private sector to help engineer them. It’s an investment in maintaining the delicate balance of ecosystems, and in the long-term health and well being of residents across the state.
This $1M grant from the State of Pennsylvania is another example of the public and private sector working together for the common good of the people, and creating investment opportunities in the process. According to DCNR.PA.GOV, Pennsylvania intends to plant 95,000 acres of stream buffers by the year 2025.
Documented below are grants by county. They include:

• Butler: $54,000 for roughly 6 acres of buffers in the Ohio River watershed.
• Westmoreland: $172,000 for approximately 9 acres of buffers along waterways in the Ohio River watershed.
• York: $191,600 for approximately 20 acres of buffers in the Lower Susquehanna River watershed.
• Centre/Clinton Counties: $40,000 for approximately 4 acres of multi-functional forest buffers along waterways in the Susquehanna River watershed.
• Statewide/Regional: $451,000, for approximately 85 acres of multi-functional riparian forest buffers along waterways throughout Pennsylvania.

Grants like this are not uncommon and provide worthwhile investment opportunities for those interested in Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). SRI can produce strong financial returns while positively stewarding the environment, preserving the land and enhancing the community.