“It’s changed the region where I live in Colorado entirely within a decade,” said Frank Smethurst, on the topic of natural gas extraction. Host of Trout Unlimited’s (TU) “On the Rise,” a nationally broadcast television show that airs on the Sportsman Channel, Smethurst spent three days along the Upper Delaware River last week, casting in the clear waters and filming for a future segment to be broadcast next April.

Smethhurst was guided by local longtime river advocate, Lee Hartman, chairperson of Pennsylvania TU’s Delaware River Committee and vice president of Friends of the Upper Delaware.

At the Buckingham, PA access, Smethurst spoke with Elizabeth Maclin, vice president for Eastern conservation at TU, about the potential impacts to the river and its watershed. Maclin identified one of the organization’s major concerns to be the massive amounts of water needed for hydraulic fracturing and said the organization has called for a cumulative analysis of water consumption for the multiple wells expected to be drilled.

Maclin also said that wastewater disposal is another important issue, due to the presence of toxic chemicals mixed into the fracking fluids. She cited recent examples of contamination in Dimock, PA, related to drilling operations there. “Even with the best environmental regulations, there will be negative impacts to the cold-water habitat,” she said. “It will be critical to work with the states to ensure protections for streams and trout habitat.”

Maclin called development of the Marcellus Shale “the biggest issue to impact trout habitat in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia in decades.”

She lamented the current move to lease more publicly owned land for gas exploration. “The state gamelands are the last remaining stretches of intact habitat for many species,” she said.

“Based on what we’ve seen in other parts of the country, there will be accidents and unanticipated impacts,” she said. “It will be a daunting prospect to try to protect that habitat.”

Such impacts will also affect sportsmen. “We expect to see a lot of disruption of habitat that will have a significant impact on hunting and fishing,” said Maclin. “It will radically change their experience. Thousands who come for this may no longer want to. Some of the best habitat is targeted for exploration and extraction.”

Maclin said that TU is working with many diverse partners, such as sportsman groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice and others. She urged fishermen to make their voices heard by contacting their state representatives and getting involved with the efforts of groups like TU to advocate for appropriate regulatory measures and increased funding for enforcement of those regulations. “We’re aggressively raising funds to hire someone to work full time on this,” she said.

TU staffer Deb Nardone has been lobbying in support of the S. 1215, commonly called the FRAC act, a bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing. “It’s a huge issue for TU, to effect change on this,” said Maclin. And while she noted that sportsmen are generally well informed on this issue, she said that they aren’t as engaged as they could be. “We hope to provide support for them to do so,” she added.

Smethurst, who has lived with gas exploration near his home in Telluride, CO for the past 10 years, acknowledged the lure of the windfall that accompanies natural gas development. “Some profit immensely; some not at all,” he said. “It’s not hard to identify with these landowners, yet it’s such a toxic process.”

“We used to have these wide open spaces; now there are gas wells everywhere,” Smethurst said. “It’s so altered, so permanent. It changed the landscape practically overnight.”

Maclin explained that the Upper Delaware region is in the early stages of what will ultimately be a long period of development. “We’re not talking about a short-term event here,” she said. “They’re projecting a 100-year process.”

Each state has its own regulations, and New York is in the process of refining its current regulations. Maclin said that in TU’s view, Pennsylvania’s regulations are “not stringent enough.”

Lorne Goering, spokesperson for the National Park Service (NPS) Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, was also interviewed for the show. “Although many people are aware of the issues on the whole, I think they underestimate the impact to our landscape,” he said. “The National Park Service has the responsibility to protect regional resources, but not the authority to do so. Most of the land is owned by private landowners, with whom we partner to protect those resources. It’s going to have to be a concerted effort,” he said.

“We’d like to see the scenic qualities of the river valley maintained, and a study done to assess the cumulative effects of this activity. We’d also like to see measures in place to assure that frack fluids are handled, stored and transported safely,” he added.

Earlier this year, TU issued a white paper detailing its concerns about development of the Marcellus Shale.

Additional information will be available on October 28, when the Lackawaxen River Conservancy hosts “Gas Drilling in Wayne and Pike - Implications for Water Resources” at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce at 32 Commercial Street at 7:00 p.m. in Honesdale, PA. Tracy Carluccio, a water-quality specialist and deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, will be the guest speaker. The Pike/Wayne chapter of TU is co-sponsoring the event.

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