Stakeholders involved in growing the outdoor recreation industry in the Pennsylvania Wilds region announced this week they are teaming up with oil and gas officials to create a set of voluntary design standards for communities interested in minimizing negative visual effects of drilling on their rural landscapes.

Officials said the standards will be added to the existing PA Wilds Design Guide, an award-winning voluntary planning document already in use by many local governments, businesses, architects and developers across the PA Wilds region.

The Design Guide highlights how communities in the Pennsylvania Wilds can protect or enhance their rural character as they grow whether that growth is due to tourism, resource extraction or other industries.

Outdoor recreation is big business in the U.S. accounting for an estimated 6.1 million jobs and $646 billion in consumer spending, according to the American Outdoor Association.

The industry has seen steady growth and is an increasingly important piece of the local economic pie in the PA Wilds, which boasts two million acres of public land, two National Wild & Scenic Rivers, the largest elk herd in the northeast, some of the darkest skies in the world and a National Forest. Visitors spent an estimated 1.7 billion in the Wilds in 2011 – an 11.5 percent rate of growth that was the fourth highest among the state’s 11 tourism regions.

“The region’s rural and historic character, scenic view-sheds and strong sense of place are part of what makes the Pennsylvania Wilds attractive to visitors and residents, so it is important for us to be good stewards of these characteristics as we grow,” said Warren County Planning Director Dan Glotz, chairman of the PA Wilds Planning Team. “Part of our charge as the Planning Team is to give our communities tools to accomplish this. That’s what we’re trying to do with this new oil and gas section of the Design Guide.”

Clearfield County Planner Jodi Brennan, who is helping spearhead the project for the PA Wilds Planning Team, said the goal is to develop recommendations that are practical and feasible for the industry to implement, while meeting the overarching goal to retain the region’s rural character.

Some preliminary design suggestions the group is considering include using long-term drilling sites in visible areas as opportunities for educational interpretation of this resource for the public; addressing the design elements of compressor stations; encouraging dark skies lighting; options for treating and landscaping decommissioned drill sites; and encouraging industry and community leaders to explore ways area businesses and towns might piggyback on improved cell and internet connectivity brought to rural landscapes through new drilling infrastructure.

“When it comes to design issues many times all you have to do is ask,” Brennan said. “As long as it is within reason many organizations – from big box stores to local governments to resource extractors – are willing to tweak their plans to make their project a better fit for the community.”

It helps to approach developers early in the process and to have written guidelines and visual case studies such as those captured in the current Design Guide, Brennan said. “We already have cases in the region where communities and oil and gas developers have worked it out and good design has happened and we look forward to capturing those stories and including them in the Design Guide for other communities to learn from,” she said.

Shell Appalachia, which has drilling interests in five Wilds counties, donated $15,000 to help pay for the creation of the new Oil & Gas section of the Design Guide.

T&B Planning, the firm that worked with county planners across the PA Wilds in 2006 to compile the first Design Guide, has been hired to complete the new oil and gas section, said Tioga County Planner Jim Weaver, who is working with Brennan to spearhead the project for the PA Wilds Planning Team.

“Shell wants to contribute their insights and support to the project but has been clear they do not intend to tell us what to include or not include in the final product,” Weaver said. “They’ve been very good about that here in Tioga County, really walking the walk. The Planning Team is grateful for their support of this project. It will be an excellent resource for communities across the region and for many oil and gas operators as well.”

“When Shell enters an area we do so with a clear business objective, but we also have two other goals – to protect the environment and to create a positive presence in the community. As a demonstration of this we are pleased to provide funding to support the development of the new Oil & Gas section of the PA Wilds Design Guide. The Design Guide will be an effective tool to help minimize the visual effects of drilling in rural areas,” said Shell Communications Business Advisor, Deb Sawyer. 

The Planning Team estimated the new edition of the Design Guide would be available to the public in about a year. Free copies of the existing Design Guide are available online.

The Pennsylvania Wilds region includes the counties of Warren, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, Clinton, Cameron, Elk, Forest, Clarion, Jefferson, Clearfield and the northern part of Centre county.

The Planning Team is comprised of the county planners from around the region and other stakeholders. The group was formed under an inter-cooperative governmental agreement in 2005 to act as the planning leg of a large regional effort to grow the outdoor recreation industry in the Pennsylvania Wilds in order to create jobs, diversify local economies, inspire stewardship and improve quality of life.

For more information, visit the PA Wilds Resource Center website.

2/11/2013