Representative Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, Democratic Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, plans to introduce HR 500 in the very near future. The resolution currently has 45 co-sponsors.
The Clarence Moore lands of the Loyalsock State Forest consist of 25,621 acres in northeastern Lycoming County. These lands hold a wealth of natural and recreational resources including the acclaimed 27-mile Old Loggers Path hiking trail; most of the watershed of Rock Run, an Exceptional Value stream often referred to as the most beautiful stream in Pennsylvania; the Devils Elbow Natural Area; large tracts of intact forest; plant and animal species of special concern; and a National Audubon Society-designated Important Bird Area.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation proposes significant industrialization of the Clarence Moore lands for natural gas development. This proposed development includes at least 26 well pads, three compressor stations, impoundments, and miles of pipeline swaths and roads that will destroy, degrade and fragment these extraordinary public lands and natural resources of the Commonwealth.
An unusual land deed gives Governor Corbett and the DCNR extraordinary powers to protect these lands from natural gas development. A 1983 Commonwealth Court decision, backed up by a decision of the Pennsylvania Board of Claims, gives the administration the clear legal authority to deny surface access to Anadarko to over 75 percent of the Clarence Moore lands. The Department of Environmental Protection could restrict surface access to much of the remaining acreage based on the likely impacts to water and other resources under the powers provided by Act 13.
