The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is considering ending a moratorium that prohibits new oil and natural gas leases on state-owned forest land. It has been in place since 2003.
The proposal is included in a draft update of the state's five-year forest management plan that also addresses deer management issues, all-terrain vehicle use, invasive species management, new public land acquisition, and additional wild and natural area designations.
Although invasive species, mountain bike use and ATVs were the most discussed topics Wednesday evening in State College, Centre County, at the first of nine public meetings on the proposed management plan, the drilling issue has the attention of the oil and gas industry, environmental groups and legislators.
Terry Brady, a DCNR spokesman, said the department has revisited the moratorium and believes oil and gas development can be done in certain places in the forests as long as it is tightly regulated.
Spurred by rising oil and gas prices, the industry wants to reopen exploration and development on the 2.1 million acres of state-owned forest land.
More than a dozen companies have already asked for permits on a total of 4.5 million acres of state forest land.
State Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, who represents one of the state's oil and gas areas, said this week she plans to introduce legislation soon that would require DCNR to auction oil and gas leases for any state forest property where more than one company wants to drill.
In a news release, Ms. White, who is chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, criticized the Rendell administration for not granting leases at the same time it had made "energy independence" a central theme of its energy program.
But Jeff Schmidt, the Harrisburg lobbyist for the Sierra Club, said it is opposed to reopening the state forests for drilling because of the same biological concerns that led the state to impose the moratorium in the first place.
"The science hasn't changed," Mr. Schmidt said, "but the political pressure has resulted in this choice to remove the moratorium."
Frank Feldbaum, president of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, said oil and gas development on state lands could further fragment the forest, disrupt sensitive habitat and create openings for invasive plant species.
"Invasives are eating Pennsylvania alive and everywhere they cut a road in for an oil or gas well opens the door for whatever seeds are on that dozer's blade or tracks," Mr. Feldbaum said. "As for fragmentation, you can see what's been done with all the drilling going on in the Allegheny National Forest, and now that will bump right into the state forests."
Prior to the moratorium, drilling had been permitted in state forests for 60 years. Almost 1,400 wells had been drilled during that time, and last year, 62 new wells were drilled under terms of leases that were approved before the moratorium. There are almost 10,000 wells operating in the Allegheny National Forest and an additional 1,500 may be permitted this year.
Public meetings on the DCNR forest management plan are to be held Tuesday at Renovo Elementary School, Renovo, Clinton County; Wednesday at Brady Township Community Center, Luthersburg, Clearfield County; Thursday at Potato City Inn, Coudersport, Potter County; Sept. 25 at Antiochian Village, Ligonier, Westmoreland County; Sept. 27 at The Inn at Reading, French Creek, Berks County; Oct. 1 at Genetti Hotel, Williamsport, Lycoming County; Oct. 2 at Holiday Inn/Dunmore, Scranton, Lackawanna County; and Oct. 4 at Hotel Carlisle and Embers Convention Center, Carlisle, Cumberland County.
Detailed information about the plan can be found on the DCNR Web site at www.dcnr.state.pa.us (choose Forestry, then State Forest Resource Management Plan 2007 Update).Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
