Plants are the source of all of our food. These plants receive energy from sunlight and store it in the food that they produce.

Ferns Photo courtesy of About-The-Web.com.com

This process called photosynthesis, is a process of the plant converting carbon dioxide and water to oxygen. This process is accelerated by a green pigment called clorophyll which is the pigment that makes the leaves green. The oxygen which is released during this process is what we breathe. This oxygen is also a life sustaining resource without which we could not live. Only green plants are capable of carrying out this amazing process of photosynthesis. The earth's entire source of food and most of its oxygen come from these plants.

Because plants are the source of all of our food and most of our oxygen, we need to make sure that they have enough water to carry out the process of making food and oxygen. Plants need water. They absorb the water and then let it pass through to their leaves where it is evaporated. Without water, there would be no life and there would be no life without plants either. It is necessary that we recognize the importance of plants and realize that we must conserve water so that we will continue to have a good supply of food and oxygen which we need to sustain life.

Forest Photo courtesy of ArtToday.com.com

Forests provide a natural habitat for wildlife in Washington. Forests slow the water flowing down slopes, which reduces the amount of sediment runoff that contaminates rivers and streams. This keeps the water purer and helps give fish a healthier place to live. The forests also provide the earth with healthy topsoil. In the fall when the leaves and pine needles drop to the ground, they disintegrate and leave very healthy topsoil.

We need to protect the forests. They are an important part of our state. The trees purify the air that we breathe just as green plants do. Trees depend on water to live just as all other living things do. We should never cut down a tree within 100 feet of water. Doing this would contaminate the water and hurt the fish and other life in the water. When we cut down trees, we should plant new trees. This way there will always be trees available to meet our needs.

If we abuse our natural resources now, we will ruin them, and they will not be available for people in the future. This means that our children and grandchildren may not have enough clean, pure water to drink if we don't conserve it for them and ourselves. We have a responsibility to the future. We must protect and conserve our state's natural resource of water!

| Uses of water | | People | | Fish and Wildlife | | Nature | | Pollution |

Photos courtesy of FreeFoto.com