On the same day the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) held a closed door meeting in Sullivan County concerning gas development in the Loyalsock State Forest, 28 organizations signed a letter to DCNR again calling for public hearings (see letter below).

Please continue to contact the Governor’s office, and your state senator/ representative and ask for public hearings concerning the Old Loggers Path and the Loyalsock State Forest. At the closed-door hearing between DCNR and local stakeholders, it was reported that local county commissioners and township supervisors have also called for public hearings.

Momentum is building. Our efforts have grown from eight organizations, representing over 50,000 individuals, to 28 organizations representing over 100,000 individuals. It is not too late to save the Old Loggers Path and the Loyalsock State Forest, if we act together.

The undersigned organizations, businesses, and elected officials write on behalf of over 100,000 Pennsylvania citizens keenly interested in the conservation and enhancement of the Commonwealth’s State Forest lands for future generations. We respectfully request that the Department to Conservation of Natural Resources (“DCNR”) conduct a statewide public comment period on the far-reaching decisions that the DCNR is poised to make concerning natural gas development in the Loyalsock State Forest.

The Loyalsock State Forest covers approximately 114,000 acres in Lycoming and Sullivan Counties – the heart of the Pennsylvania Wilds. In Lycoming County, there are some 18,870 Forest acres where, due to an unusual provision in the Commonwealth’s deed, DCNR owns the surface rights even though the oil and gas rights are owned by Anadarko Exploration and Production Company, L.P. (“Anadarko”) and the International Development Corporation. Known as the “Clarence Moore Lands,” these lands include some of the most important ecological and recreational resources in Pennsylvania’s State Forest system, including Rock Run, an Exceptional Value stream widely hailed as the most beautiful in Pennsylvania; the Old Logger’s Path, a 27-mile hiking trail; the Devils Elbow Natural Area; and a National Audubon Society-designated Important Bird Area. They are cherished by our members throughout the Commonwealth.

In 2011, hikers began to encounter seismic testing crews in the Loyalsock State Forest. Documents recently obtained from the DCNR under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law show that the DCNR and Anadarko are currently negotiating a surface use management agreement that would allow Anadarko to develop a network of gas wells, compressor stations, pipelines, roads, and impoundments on the Clarence Moore lands. We find this news alarming for three reasons.

First, if the DCNR allows Anadarko to develop these lands, their wild character and ecological and recreational integrity will be permanently lost. Second, any surface management agreement executed by the DCNR would violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the 2010 Executive Order imposing a moratorium on the leasing of any further DCNR managed lands for oil and gas development. As you know, the basis of this order was a 2010 study by DCNR itself titled “Impacts of Leasing Additional State Forest for Natural Gas Development”; it concluded that “there are zero State Forest Land acres suitable for [additional] gas leasing involving surface disturbance.” Third, to the extent that the Commonwealth has received funding for the Clarence Moore lands under the Federal Land and Waters Conservation Act, Pennsylvania could suffer significant financial penalties if these lands are converted to gas development.

Given these facts, it is clear that gas development in the Loyalsock State Forest is a matter of statewide public importance. Yet to date, the DCNR has failed to seek any public input on whether development should occur, and if so, on what conditions.

Under Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the DCNR has a legal duty to conserve, maintain, and enhance State Forest lands for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians, including future generations. And under the Conservation and Natural Resources Act, the DCNR may not grant a right-of-way over State Forest lands unless the DCNR determines that granting a right-of-way would be in the public interest. We believe that in the case of the Clarence Moore lands, it is impossible for the DCNR to make this determination without public input. Thus, we respectfully request that the DCNR suspend its negotiations with Anadarko and open a public comment period on whether gas development should be allowed in the Clarence Moore lands, including at least one public hearing.

Advocacy Update: Protecting the Old Loggers Path, Meetings, and News Coverage