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by Brook Lenker, Executive Director of the FracTracker Alliance
Last spring, the FracTracker Alliance – in collaboration with the Keystone Trails Association – launched the Trail Logbook project to collect the stories and experiences of hikers and other trail users to better understand how land clearing, truck traffic, pipeline construction, compressor stations, and other activities associated with the shale gas industry may have put a literal or figurative rut in their favorite trail.
Since then, the project has gone national and while we don’t have volumes of accounts (yet) to learn from, we’re hoping to enlist more trail organizations to partner in spreading the word about this opportunity to aggregate recreational voices and map and catalog grievances. We’ve already connected with the Appalachian Club Mountain Club and their related project, Marcellus Shale’s Greatest Treasure’s: Telling the Story of Natural Gas Impacts On Our Public Lands. They, and we, want your stories. When you’re hitting the trail this spring and summer, whether prowling the Sproul or touring the Tiadaghton, please keep these projects in mind – especially if you’re adventuring in areas where extraction is occurring. Concern about beloved places like the Loyalsock State Forest and the Old Loggers Path, an iconic backpacking loop at risk, underscores the importance of keen observation by the hiking community.Submission takes only a few minutes but the benefits of your insights may be long –lasting. Go here to upload the details of any encounter.
And more than mental notes are needed. Photographs, including citations addressing the location, subject, and time of image capture, are very helpful – the more specificity the better. Imagine what can be learned through the lenses, keyboards, and smartphones of diligent, enlightened wilderness visitors.
Before you lace-up your boots, bulk-up on your gas knowledge by reviewing the maps, blogs, videos, and more on FracTracker.org. When planning a trip, spend some time on our PA Oil and Gas Viewer map and zoom in on selected areas to see wells and permits, violations, and more. Heading out of state to hike? Look over our map library to analyze the possible extent of oil and gas operations near your destination. Want to see a certain kind of map? Have other types of data to share? New ideas and information are always welcomed.
With approximately 6,500 unconventional drilled wells, 12,000 permits issued, and many more to come, the footprint of this industry on Penns Woods will be enormous – even with improved technologies and regulations. At a minimum, a vigilant public can identify problems and perpetuate remedies. You can make a difference.
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