Leasing of our state forest lands for Marcellus Shale leasing has reached its limit. First, some facts: of the 2,100,000 acres in Pennsylvania’s state forest system, 71% are above the Marcellus Shale deposits containing natural gas. Of that 71%, 47%, or 700,000 acres, are currently under lease. The state does not own the mineral rights under all of that 700,000 acres; the mineral rights under 290,000 acres are privately owned. These statistics are from the DCNR Bureau of Forestry Marcellus website.

Map of new gas well pads in
the Clear Run watershed of
Tioga State Forest.
Map courtesy of DCNR

Of special interest at the Bureau’s website is the section “Impacts of Leasing Additional State Forest Land”. To examine “whether a moratorium is needed”, the wild areas of the state’s forest lands in north-central Pennsylvania are mapped, and the intrusion of Marcellus shale drilling is illustrated. The Bureau’s conclusion is that “This analysis shows that no additional leasing involving surface disturbance can occur without significantly altering the ecological integrity and wild character of our state forest system.” Even more strongly … “There are zero State Forest Land acres suitable for gas leasing involving surface disturbance.”

A bill calling for a five-year moratorium on any further leasing of state forest lands (HB2235) was passed by the state House by margin of 157 to 33 on May 4. The bill now languishes in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee chaired by Sen. Mary Jo White.

ACTION: Please contact Sen. Mary Jo White at mwhite at pasen dot gov and urge her to move HB2235 out of committee, AND send a copy to your State Senator.

Photo: Allegheny
Defense Project

From Christopher Seymour – Chairperson, Huplits Wildlife Grants Committee, Allegheny Group

Each year a gift from the Huplits Trust is distributed by the Allegheny Group, Sierra Club, to award worthy grant applicants promising to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat in Pennsylvania. This year the Huplits Wildlife Grants Committee awarded four grants totaling $50,000. The four grants will help to:

• Protect Pennsylvania’s forest lands, including those under threat from Marcellus Shale drilling.
• Promote wilderness protection on the Allegheny National Forest.
• Add land to Rockroth State Forest in Centre County.
• Protect endangered species in Pennsylvania, with a focus on bat species.

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Photo: Pennsylvania DCNR

The following is based in part on notes from the Pennsylvania Chapter’s Director Jeff Schmidt. (more…)

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shares some similarities with the steady increase in oil and gas drilling on the Allegheny National Forest: lack of adequate federal oversight and a belief that the industry is self-regulating. For years environmentalists have watched with dismay the incidences of water contamination, air pollution, forest fragmentation due to road building, opening of gravel pits, etc.

Photo: Bill Belitkus
This stone pit used for OGM development on Allegheny NF did not require NEPA.

As described below by Ryan Talbot of the Allegheny Defense Project, a small group of organizations, including the Sierra Club, has filed lawsuits to force the US Forest Service to ”do what is right”. This is an update on the continuing legal battles.
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Photo: US EPA
The Small
Whorled Pogonia

Join the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club and the Allegheny Defense Project in helping to survey Pennsylvania’s largest old growth forest for endangered plant species. On Saturday, June 19th, we’ll be hiking in the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas in a hunt for rare species such as the Small Whorled Pogonia. We will be meeting at 8 am at the Pittsburgh Sierra Club Office Parking Lot, 425 North Craig Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Contact Jim Kleissler at jim at palands dot org or 412-559-1364 for more information.

The Pennsylvania Wilderness Coalition was recently formed to work for the addition of more areas Allegheny National Forest ANF). Curently there are only two areas that are in the National Wilderness Preservation System; Hickory Creek Wilderness (8,600 acres) and the Allegheny Islands Wilderness (totaling 400 acres). These two existing areas represent a little less than 2 percent of 513,000-acre ANF.

1920 photo of remnant old growth in what is now the Hearts Content Scenic Area.
Photo courtesy of the US Forest Service.

The six founding member organizations in the Coalition are: Campaign for America’s Wilderness; Friends of Allegheny Wilderness; Izaak Walton League; Pennsylvania Trout Unlimited; Sierra Club, Pennsylvania Chapter; and The Wilderness Society. (more…)

Photo: PA Land Trust Assn

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
(See below for details.)

There are 2.5 million acres of Pennsylvania forestland that belong to citizens of the Commonwealth. As part of the current “natural gas rush”, the state has already leased 692,000 acres of our forestland for Marcellus shale drilling. In a move to further reduce the state’s budget deficit, Governor Rendell has proposed raising $112 million by leasing additional state forestland for drilling. Until the environmental impacts of Marcellus drilling on state forestland are fully understood, state legislators are working on a five-year leasing moratorium.

On April 19 the House Appropriations Committee voted 26-8 in favor of H.B 2235, a bill introduced by Rep. Vitali. Along with the five-year moratorium, H.B. 2235 would require the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to issue a report every year to the governor and legislature about the impact of current natural gas exploration and drilling on state forests. The state has leased 692,000 acres of state forestland to natural gas drilling companies.

A vote on H.B. 2235 is expected on the House floor THIS WEEK.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND URGE THEM TO VOTE FOR H.B. 2235

Note that Reps. DeWeese, Frankel, Harhai, Kortz, Levdansky, and Wagner are among the forty co-sponsors of H.B. 2235 and they deserve our THANKS.

May is a great month to visit the Allegheny National Forest, especially if the visit is to an area not yet marred by oil and gas drilling. On the weekend of May 8 the Allegheny Group is sponsoring a backpacking trip to the Minister Creek area, along with the Allegheny Defense Project. The Minister Creek area has been proposed for formal wilderness protection. For more information, contact Public Lands Team leader Jim Kleissler at jim at blysonhill dot net.

The newly formed Public Lands Action Team of the Allegheny Group had a successful tour of oil and gas drilling operations on the Allegheny NF, March 20.  As a follow-up, the PLAT held a meeting on Wednesday, April 1 at the Sierra Club’s Oakland office. Of prime concern was means of educating the public on the threats of oil & gas development to our public lands and watersheds, etc.

A backpacking trip to the Minister Creek Wilderness Study Area is planned for May, and a Field Trip/Field Survey in the Tionesta Old Growth area is planned for June. For more information contact Jim Kleissler at 412-559-1364 or jim at palands dot org.

Hays Woods is a 636-acre area that sits atop the bluffs overlooking Hazelwood and the Monongahela River. This wild area once belonged to the Jones and Laughlin steel company, and because of its rough terrain, it has never been developed. With the end of a legal case this week, one drawn-out attempt to develop the area has come to a close.
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Contrary to popular belief, the snow will not last forever. The time will soon arrive when we can travel north and again appreciate the beauty of the people’s Allegheny National Forest, and experience first hand some of the threats to that beauty.
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After Gov. Rendell announced January 28 that the Dept. of Environmental Protection would hire sixty-eight additional staff to ”Protect Public, Environment as Marcellus Shale Drilling Operations Expands”, the Governor has now indicated that he wishes to lease an additional acreage of state forest land for Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

Conservationists call for a moratorium on drilling until the possible environmental impacts are fully understood, as well as stronger regulation of the wastewater produced by Marcellus gas drilling. (more…)

Environmentalists and conservation groups were pleased last week when Rep. Greg Vitali of Delaware County introduced the State Forest Natural Gas Lease Moratorium Act (HB 2235). This bill provides “a moratorium on leasing State forest lands for the purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling or production; imposing duties on the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and providing for report contents.”

Representatives from SW Pennsylvania who co-sponsored Vitali’s bill are Dan Frankel (Squirrel Hill), Bill Kortz (Dravosburg), and Bill DeWeese (Waynesburg). These Representatives deserve our thanks, as does Rep. Levdansky. Constituents in other districts are urged to contact your representative and encourage them to support the State Forest gas drilling moratorium bill, HB2235.
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Unlined drilling-fluids pit in the headwaters of Hemlock Run and near the North Country Trail. Photo by Bill Belitkus

To the keen disappointment of environmentalists, on December 15 a U.S. federal judge in Erie granted a preliminary injunction against a settlement that curtailed oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest. At issue was whether the Forest Service (USFS) should apply the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to the drilling for oil and gas in the Allegheny NF.
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On December 1, the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center released a new report on the environmental hazards of Marcellus Shale drilling. Titled ‘Preserving Forests, Protecting Waterways’, the 20-page report describes the drilling process, the threats to the environment, and some policy recommendations such as strengthen regulations, place pristine areas off limits, and improve public access and participation. The report is recommended reading for all who are concerned about the impact of the growing Marcellus Shale drilling operations across the state.