09/16/24 - 98 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/2zvd7hju
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Groups Urge Governor, General Assembly To Suspend State Forest Gas Leasing
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The Pennsylvania Environmental Council, PA Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania Audubon and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation this week wrote to Gov. Rendell and every member of the Senate and House urging them to suspend any further leasing of State Forest land for Marcellus Shale drilling until the environmental impact of the drilling can be assessed. The following is the text of the letter--
Dear Governor Rendell and Members of the General Assembly,
We write today to express our concerns with respect to the scale, pace and potential impacts of natural gas production on Pennsylvania's State Forest lands. At this time, we respectfully urge that any additional leasing of State Forest for natural gas production be suspended until the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has sufficient opportunity to fully evaluate both the extent of impacts from already-leased acreage and the values and sensitivity of remaining un-leased State Forest lands.
We recognize the management history of Pennsylvania's State Forest system and DCNR's ongoing commitment to accommodating responsible and multiple uses of this extraordinary public resource, including mineral extraction. However, decisions regarding the resource management of these public lands - which fulfill an impressive array of ecological functions and public uses - should be made with science, sustainability and the health of the forest system as the primary goals, rather than the need to achieve specific revenue targets.
The reality is that almost 700,000 acres of State Forest are potentially available for natural gas production right now – roughly a third of our State Forest lands. In the past two years alone, DCNR has leased almost 107,000 acres within the Marcellus region. It also is important to point out that the Commonwealth does not own the subsurface mineral rights under approximately 290,000 acres of State Forest, raising questions about the potential scope and scale of surface activity in these areas.
These public lands are the result of more than a century of public and private investment, held in trust by the state for public recreation and tourism, wildlife habitat, water quality protection, other ecological functions, and timber production. All of these public values provide real economic dividends for our state and provide all citizens of the Commonwealth with the opportunity to enjoy our tremendous natural resources.
With only a handful of Marcellus wells drilled to-date on State Forest lands, we currently lack sufficient data and experience to truly evaluate the nature and extent of impacts. Important questions remain regarding how this form of natural gas extraction will affect:
-- Forest health, unfragmented core forest areas, wildlife habitat, and water quality – both site-specific and cumulative impacts.
-- Recreation, hunting, and other public uses.
-- Economic initiatives like the PA Wilds, which seek to increase tourism and community revitalization based on access to natural amenities.
-- Forest Stewardship Council certification of our State Forests, which helps to ensure sustainable management and bolster our state's timber industry.
According to recent reports, the natural gas industry could have as much as seven million acres of land already under lease in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania. Given the pace and scope of gas development poised to occur in our state over the next several decades, DCNR lands will be central to any long term forest conservation framework in Pennsylvania, and protecting their integrity likely will be of ever-increasing importance.
DCNR should undertake a rigorous and science-based study to monitor the effects of natural gas production on already-leased State Forest lands. This study should assess the adequacy and effectiveness of current lease terms and conditions and environmental review, identify opportunities for improving best management practices for site development and operation, evaluate the impact of infrastructure (e.g., roads, pipelines, compressor stations, pits/impoundments) on public use and environmental quality, and achieve a clearer understanding of how the State will manage public lands where it does not control the mineral rights - including areas of State Forest and a considerable amount of State Park lands.
In addition, DCNR should be afforded the opportunity to assess and document the ecological and recreational values of remaining un-leased State Forest lands, and their vulnerability to disturbance from gas development.
Responsible stewardship requires that these critical questions be addressed in a thorough and comprehensive manner prior to the potential consideration of proposals for leasing additional State Forest land. We appreciate the difficult fiscal circumstances confronting the Commonwealth at this time. We submit, however, that it would be unwise for the State to respond to current economic pressures in a manner that risks the long term health and sustainability of one of our most precious and valuable natural assets – the State Forest system. Accordingly, we urge the consideration of alternative revenue options to help meet anticipated budget demands.
In conclusion, we support an interim suspension of additional leasing of State Forest lands for natural gas production, pending completion of applied research to assess the impacts of this activity on the integrity and viability of our State Forests.
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