The Board of Game Commissioners this week approved a change to the coal mining lease on State Game Lands in Lycoming County and accepted donations of land in Carbon, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.

The Game Commission agreed to amend the agency's existing 159-acre mining lease on State Game Land 75 with Fisher Mining Inc., of Montoursville. The amended lease will permit Fisher Mining to remove coal from an additional 32.3 acres on SGL 75 in Pine Township, Lycoming County. The mining is expected to produce an estimated 311,490 tons of coal.

The advance royalty will be paid to the Game Commission upon final execution of the lease. In addition, the agency will assess and be reimbursed for all merchantable that is cut or impacted by this mining.

As part of this amended lease, Fisher Mining will reclaim 600 feet of abandoned high-wall on the Flatiron surface mine about 1,500 feet west of the leased area. The reclamation will eliminate an existing safety hazard on the SGL and create a five-acre herbaceous food plot.

All mining will be regulated the state's surface-mining regulations, and the agency's surface mining lease agreement. In addition, all proposed mining has been reviewed and approved in accordance with the state Department of Environmental Protection's surface mining regulations.

Additionally, the Board reported that, by notational vote, it unanimously approved leasing 2,615 acres of SGL 75 in Pine Township, Lycoming County, to Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, of Charleston, West Virginia, for oil and gas development.

SGL 75 is comprised of 27,437.6 acres in Lycoming County

Two Land Donations Accepted By Board

The Board approved a land donation from Eugene and Nancy Dunlap, of Blairsville, of 20.7 acres near SGL 328 in Derry Township, Westmoreland County. The forested tract provides about 2,000 feet of shoreline along Conemaugh River.

SGL 328 currently is comprised of 516 acres in neighboring Indiana County.

The Board also approved the donation of a right-of-way about 400-feet by 20-feet in Penn Forest Township, Carbon County, that provides access to SGL 141 from State Route 1002. This donation, from John and Mary Enck, of Jim Thorpe, is an important acquisition because it allows the agency to perform important habitat work on a portion of SGL 141 that had become inaccessible.

It also will provide public access to a new parking area that is planned. SGL 141 is comprised of 17,047 acres in Carbon County.

Land Exchanges Approved By Board

The Board approved a land exchange with Ann Higdon, of Cullowhee, North Carolina, that involves a 16-foot wide easement allowing access and utility support only - not subdivision, through 1,912 feet of SGL 82 in Northampton Township, Somerset County, in exchange for 11 acres adjacent to SGL 82.

The tract being transferred to the Game Commission is comprised of mature hardwoods with some hemlock. As part of the exchange, Higdon has agreed not to build any structures within 150 yards of her property's boundary with SGL 82, which is comprised of 6,760 acres in Somerset County.

In another land transaction, the Board agreed to a land exchange in which Steve Petersheim, of Gap, will receive a permanent easement over a portion of SGL 88 in Northeast Madison Township, Perry County, for eight forested acres adjacent to SGL 88, also in Northeast Madison Township. SGL 88 is comprised of 6,930 acres in Juniata and Perry counties.

In Other Business

In other action from the Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management, the Board took the following actions:

· Approved an extension in a deadline to allow Trout Unlimited more time complete construction of AMD ponds that were bankrolled by Growing Greener grant received from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The AMD ponds, being constructed on private property, would provide lasting environmental relief to Morgan Run and the watershed. The original agreement was approved August 27, 2007, and called for Trout Unlimited to complete its work by June 30, 2008.

· The organization not could meet that deadline and sought an extension to December 31, 2009, which the Board granted. In the original deal, Trout Unlimited provided a 68-acre interior parcel to SGL 158 in Reade Township, Cambria County in exchange a 50-foot by 1,000-foot parcel of SGL 51 in Dunbar Township, Fayette County. SGL 51 is comprised of 16,700 acres in Fayette County; and

· Finalized two land acquisitions in Horton Township, Elk County, for two parcels - one 4,968 acres, another 1,555.6 acres - that adjoin or are near SGL 44. The lands were originally to be purchased with monies from the land exchange with Pennsylvania State University on SGL 176.

However, since the timing of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service approval for the deal may exceed the transaction closing date, other funds were approved - if needed - to complete the acquisitions. Prior to the acquisitions, SGL 44 contained 24,854 acres in Elk and Jefferson counties.

6/27/2008