Department of Conservation and Natural Resources staff met Wednesday with representatives of several statewide organizations at their request to discuss DCNR’s role in protecting the natural and recreational resources in the Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County, where it does not own the subsurface rights.

A Commonwealth Court decision created a unique and complex mix of ownership and rights to a 25,000-acre area within the state forest known as the Clarence Moore lands.  Energy companies holding the subsurface rights have requested access to extract natural gas.

Legal analysis indicates that on approximately 7,000 of the 25,000 acres, DCNR cannot prohibit surface access. On 18,000 acres, DCNR can strongly influence, but not prohibit, subsurface owners from accessing the rights under their ownership from the surface.

“While we did share this information at the public meeting held earlier this year, we were clear in meeting with stakeholders today that DCNR does not have complete control of surface rights throughout the 25,000 acres,” DCNR Acting Secretary Ellen Ferretti said. “However, we do believe we can strongly influence and ensure responsible access to minimize impacts to the natural and recreational features on these lands.”

With that goal in mind, DCNR anticipates meeting with Anadarko and Southwestern Energy Company. Each organization owns 50 percent of the subsurface rights. Anadarko already had approached DCNR about accessing those rights on the entire 25,000 acres but no conversations had occurred for almost a year.

DCNR’s priorities in protecting the natural resources and recreational opportunities on the Clarence Moore lands include:

-- Minimizing surface disturbance to the greatest extent possible;

-- Limiting impacts on trail users on the 27-mile Old Logger’s Path trail that circles the lands or relocate trail if necessary;

-- Reducing fragmentation from pipelines, right-of-ways and roads;

-- Avoiding or minimizing activity in wetland areas and important habitat for threatened or endangered species;

-- Avoiding or minimizing development in the headwaters of the Rock Run waterway; and

-- Mitigating noise impacts from compressor stations.

“Our main interest is protecting this resource. That is our mission. It’s our job to balance the protection of habitat and recreational resources such as the Old Logger’s Path with the various uses of the state forest, including gas extraction,” Ferretti said.

Any development by the subsurface owners would also be subject to the required environmental reviews and permitting process with the Department of Environmental Protection.

“We have received a large volume of correspondence, phone calls, inquiries from the public and legislators, and read media accounts, all of which have given us a good representation of the concerns and questions from the public,” Ferretti said.  “We share these concerns and will be incorporating that information into our negotiations with the subsurface owners.”

The meeting was organized by Curt Ashenfelter of the Keystone Trails Association and attended by representatives from Audubon Pennsylvania; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future; Sierra Club; Forest Coalition and the Responsible Drilling Alliance.

“I want to thank the organizations that met with DCNR today for their interest,” Ferretti said. “We welcome their input and will incorporate it into our conversations with the two companies.”

Members of the public can submit written comments on this issue to DCNR by email to loyalsock@pa.gov.

For more information about possible gas development on the Loyalsock State Forest, read the Loyalsock State Forest and the Clarence Moore Lands fact sheet.

NewsClip: DCNR Acting Secretary Launches Loyalsock Outreach

7/29/2013