National Park Service A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States

OVER HALF of the State's 9,750,000 people live in the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre regions. Another 2,000,000 are located in the remaining 13 urban industrial regions. The population is predominantly urban in character with less than 9 percent being classified as rural. The proximity of metropolitan New York, including the large urban centers in northern New Jersey, constitutes a definite factor which must be considered in recreational planning for this State.

The State's recreational resources, if wisely utilized, are adequate to meet the needs of its own population and its visitors. Its varied topography, ranging from flat tidal river shores to mountainous terrain, and its Great Lake shore line constitute its principal recreational assets. It has numerous streams and small lakes, but pollution in some sections constitutes a serious detriment to their use for recreational purposes. The cool summer climate found in its mountains attracts tourists and vacationists from the surrounding congested regions.

The State has only a few areas which can he classified as parks and these are either too small, too undeveloped, or too far away from the large centers of population to he of much benefit. There is, consequently, a great need for State and county parks near all the metropolitan and urban industrial centers of the State. Minimum needs of the State are estimated at a total of 140,000 acres of publicly owned park lands, 85,000 for local use, an 56,000 in State parks. The elimination of stream pollution constitutes a major problem which should be given immediate and continued attention.

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¹ Area under Federal administration June 1938.

² Includes 17,000 acres in Pymatuning Reservoir.