Why are New Yorks natural resources impotant?
Natural resources help with developing and maintaining a healthy economy. Let’s look at what NY has: Lakes/stream/ocean bays–all these are important in transportation and trade. If you check out the history of the Empire State, you’ll find that the early settlers first landed at those natural ocean bays, and then followed rivers and crossed lakes to find good places to settle. What kind of places did they settle? Places with decent soil. The native Americans near Naples, Ontario Co NY, already had orchards planted and were harvesting crops when a group of investors came to lay claim to the area after the Natives had signed away much of their lands. Both settlers and natives liked the Finger Lakes region because of good hunting (they were still hunting bear into the 1800s there), fishing, and timber that was available. One of the first businesses in Ontario County was a sawmill-taking advantage of the forests. Wetlands provided shelter for migrating waterfowl, another source of food. A
