J.T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week 2025
On June 19, 1941, the PA State legislature enacted into law the adherence to Arbor Day on the last Friday of April each year, so that “such day be suitably observed by [the] widespread planting of trees and shrubs and by group and community programs stressing the value and importance of trees and forests.” The same Act created “Dr. J. T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week, during which week the citizens shall be encouraged to consider through suitable activities the broader subject of the conservation of all of the natural resources from which the wealth of the Commonwealth is derived.”
The last week of April annually marks J.T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week. Rothrock is honored as the Father of Pennsylvania Forestry. As the first President of the PA Forestry Association, founded in 1886, Rothrock promoted forest stewardship at a time when our state was clear-cut. (You can learn more about Rothrock at paconservationheritage.org.)
This coming year 2025, we also celebrate the 55th Annual Earth Day on April 22nd. Earth Day was founded in 1970, encouraging Americans to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts quickly garnering international attention as 20 million Americans took “to the streets, parks, and auditoriums.”
What better time to join a Friends Group for tree planting or immerse yourself in a PA state forest?! You might also want to include the following hashtags: #RothrockWeek #ProtectOurParksandForests #PaForests #EarthDay2025
For Additional References, see:
1941 Act 78 – PA General Assembly
PA Parks and Forests Foundation’s Penn Stewards Winter 2022 Newsletter here
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