The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) will hold a June 3 public meeting in Williamsport regarding potential natural gas development on an extraordinary 25,000-acre tract of the Loyalsock State Forest known as the Clarence Moore lands. It is vital and imperative that concerned citizens attend this meeting to urge DCNR to use its powers to protect this special part of Penn’s Woods.
The meeting will take place in Monday, June 3, from 4 PM to 6 PM, on the campus of Lycoming College in Wendle Hall, 700 Campus Place, Williamsport, PA 17701.
DCNR says that the meeting will include a power-point presentation and a question and answer session that will include Secretary Richard Allan and State Forester Dan Devlin. Following the questions and answers, attendees will be permitted to make comments of up to five minutes.
Please make time to attend this meeting if you care about the future of the Loyalsock State Forest specifically and Penn’s Woods generally. At stake are the fate of marvelous tracts of interior forest; Rock Run, often hailed as Pennsylvania's most beautiful stream; the Old Loggers Path, an acclaimed hiking trail; a National Audubon Society-designated Important Bird Area; plant and animal species of special concern; and the Devils Elbow Natural Area.
An unusual deed gives DCNR the ability to protect most of the 25,000-acre tract from surface development. If DCNR uses it powers, it is unclear as to whether Anadarko Petroleum could obtain the necessary permits from the Department of Environmental Protection to drill on much of the remaining 6,000 acres given the sensitive hydrologic conditions found there.
Secretary Allan made this troubling statement in his press release: “This meeting is the completion of a series of interactions with the public regarding this complicated and long-standing issue, including a local stakeholder meeting and a public web-based information session.”
DCNR seems to be positioning itself to end discussions with the public on the fate of the Loyalsock. But there are so many more questions that the public needs to have answered, and much more informed public input DCNR needs to consider once the public has the answer to these questions. For example:
Will DCNR share with the public all of its environmental impact assessments of any potential natural gas development in the Clarence Moore tracts?
Will DCNR share the specific locations of well pads, pits, roads, pipelines, compressor stations and other industrial infrastructure that Anadarko wants to build in the Loyalsock? The public should be able to see these plans on a map, understand them and comment on them prior to DCNR making a decision on any gas development.
What alternative development plans are being considered by DCNR?
Has DCNR done a cumulative impact assessment for the Loyalsock State Forest that considers both current development and any planned future development of the Clarence Moore lands?
What threatened and endangered species have been found on the Clarence Moore tracts? What conservation plan is in place to manage these species? Many of these species require large tracts of unfragmented forests. How will DCNR protect these species from gas development when gas development will bring forest fragmentation, invasive species and predator species?
These questions, and many others, underscore the point that DCNR’s interaction with the public needs to be ongoing and not “completed” on June 3.
A strong public turnout and strong statements on June 3 will help make these points to DCNR.
