Game Commission Approves Land Donations, Mineral Leases

The Game Commission Board this week approved a series of mineral leases, mine reclamation projects and land donations. Here are the details--

 

The Board approved a lease with CMT Energy Inc., of Brisbin, to mine and remove abandoned coal refuse disposed on a portion of a 20.2-acre tract of State Game Land 60 in Gulich and Beccaria townships, Clearfield County.

 

The proposed coal refuse removal will entail about 9.3 acres of unreclaimed coal refuse spoil piles. The remaining lease acreage will be utilized for access to the coal refuse removal site, construction of erosion and sedimentation controls and operational support. The accumulated coal refuse royalty value of this proposed project has been calculated at approximately $25,000.

 

Removal and reclamation of the spoil piles will reduce ongoing pollution into Muddy Run.

 

Further, CMT Energy will be obligated to carry out a site specific wildlife habitat and reclamation plan as per the direction of the local Land Management Group Supervisor. The reclamation plan will include the development of a 1.5- to two-acre shallow water wetland complex. No merchantable timber is to be affected by this reclamation operation.

 

In exchange for the coal refuse removal and reclamation lease, CMT Energy will pay the Game Commission a royalty of 10 percent F.O.B pit price or a minimum of $1/ton, whichever the greater for each and every ton of coal refuse mined and removed from the site.

 

The Board alsoapproved a lease amendment with Steckman Ridge to its existing 753.32-acre oil/gas lease on State Game Land 49 in Monroe Township, Bedford County.

 

The lease amendment consists of the addition of gas storage rights in the Oriskany formation for 82.36 storage acres and 398.6 buffer acres. Steckman Ridge is converting 1,906 acres of the now depleted Oriskany sandstone formation to a natural gas storage field, of which 82.36 acres is under the Game Commission's ownership.

 

In exchange for the lease amendment, Steckman Ridge will make a one-time bonus payment of $48,460 to the Game Fund. Steckman Ridge also will pay the Game Commission an annual rental of $15,067 per year or a storage fee rate of three-cents per MCF of the storage field proportionally owned by the Game Commission, whichever the greater.

 

The Board approved a land exchange with the Tony L. Stec Lumber Company Inc. that will result in 100 acres of additional land being added to State Game Land 86 in Warren County.

 

Stec previously was the high bidder on a Game Commission timber sale on SGL 86 and agreed to pay the agency $202,020 for the timber. The Stec family is the owner of a tract of land comprised of 100 acres in Deerfield Township, Warren County, which is an indenture into SGL 86. As the Game Commission is interested in acquiring this tract to protect potential encroachment into SGL 86, the agency and Stec have agreed to the value of $170,000 for the 100-acre parcel.

 

As part of the exchange, Stec will transfer the 100-acre parcel to the Game Commission, and the agency would credit Stec's timber contact $170,000 toward the $202,020 commitment.

 

The property is entirely forested with mostly mixed northern hardwoods to include hickory, oak and cherry. The majority of the tree species are in early forest succession. A small one-acre wetland is located on the property and an unnamed tributary, which supports native brook trout, flows across the property.

 

The Board approved three land donations offered in Greene, Lebanon and Luzerne counties to be added to the agency's network of 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands.

 

In Greene County, the Board approved accepting a donation of 125 acres in Richland Township, adjoining SGL 302, which currently is comprised of 1,196.2 acres in Greene and Washington counties. This donation from Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, of Pittsburgh, consists of 60 acres of mixed hardwoods, 35 acres of shrub lands and reverting old fields and 30 acres of agricultural land; of which 20 acres are tillable. There is a small stream originating from ground water and springs on the property that flows into the Enlow Fork of Wheeling Creek. Indiana bats, which are a federal- and state-listed endangered species, are present on or near the property. There is no surface mining taking place on the tract, but there is a 10-foot square fenced vent shaft and a two-acre vent shaft adjacent to the tract, which will need to be subdivided prior to the donation. The entire property currently is being long-wall mined and will be subject to planned subsidence. No evidence was seen of acid mine drainage.

 

In Lebanon County, the Board approved accepting a donation of 1.99 acres in Cornwall Borough, adjacent to SGL 156, which currently consists of 5,184 acres in Lancaster and Lebanon counties. This donation from Catherine M. Fitzgibbons, Cornwall, is a forested parcel about 4,268 feet long by 20 feet wide and is adjacent to an existing electric transmission line right-of-way on SGL 156. Oak, hickory, black gum and sassafras make up the overstory with arrowwood, witch-hazel, maple-leaf viburnum and blackberry in the understory.

 

Finally, in Luzerne County, the Board approved accepting a donation of one acre in Dennison Township, which is about 2.3 miles away from SGL 187, which currently consists of 8,186.2 acres in Luzerne County. This donation from Patricia A. Davis, of Greenville, South Carolina, is a detached parcel predominately forested with northern hardwoods and eastern hemlock.

 

For more information, visit the Game Commission website.