CoalitionLettertoSecretaryAllan3-6-13

7/29/2019 CoalitionLettertoSecretaryAllan3-6-13

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Responsible Drilling Alliance

P.O. Box 502Williamsport, PA 18701

Citizens for Pennsylvanias Future

8 West Market Street, Suite 901Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

March 6, 2013

by electronic & first-class mail

Richard J. Allan, SecretaryDepartment of Conservation and Natural Resources

Rachel Carson State Office BuildingP.O. Box 8767400 Market Street

Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767

Re: Natural Gas Development in the Loyalsock State Forest

Dear Secretary Allan:

On behalf of over 50,000 citizens of the Commonwealth, the undersigned conservation,recreation, fishing, and hunting organizations write to insist that the Department of Conservation

and Natural Resources conduct a formal public comment process concerning gas development on

the Clarence Moore lands in the Loyalsock State Forest and meanwhile halt all negotiationsover development with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The DCNR should not make any deals

with Anadarko until it has provided the public with meaningful information about Anadarkos

proposed development plans, and sponsored a public discussion of all alternatives including

alternatives involving no surface development activities. The DCNR cannot determine whethergas development in the Loyalsock State Forest is in the public interest without public input.

By way of background, on September 7, 2012, our organizations wrote to you aboutevidence that Anadarko was preparing to conduct gas development operations on some 26,000

acres of land in the Loyalsock State Forest including approximately 18,870 acres where the

Commonwealth owns the surface rights, even though Anadarko and International Development

Corporation own the oil and gas rights. The indications of planned development alarmed usbecause these lands known to the DCNR as the Clarence Moore lands contain resources of

great ecological and recreational significance, including most of the Exceptional Valuewatershed of Rock Run, the Old Loggers Path and the Devils Elbow Natural Area. The Clarence

Moore lands also contain irreplaceable breeding grounds for migratory birds, and have been

designated an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society.


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In light of the DCNRs judicially-recognized control of the surface of these 18,870 acres,

we made a modest request in our letter: that before giving Anadarko any access to the ClarenceMoore lands, the DCNR open a public comment period on Anadarkos proposal to develop these

lands, while making public the DCNRs assessments of potential environmental impacts. We

noted that under Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the DCNR has a legal

duty to conserve and maintain State Forest lands for the benefit of all Pennsylvanians, includingfuture generations, and that under the Pennsylvania Conservation and Natural Resources Act, the

DCNR may not grant a right-of-way over State Forest lands unless it determines that doing so isin the public interest. We suggested that, given the ecological and recreational significance of the

Clarence Moore lands and the unique legal circumstances surrounding their control, the DCNR

could not make an informed determination concerning the Clarence Moore lands without public

participation.

On February 22, 2013, you sent us correspondence that thanks us for our letter, but fails

to acknowledge let alone grant our request for a formal public comment process. You wrotethat the DCNR is committed to doing all that we can to protect the Loyalsock State Forest, but

that the legal issues concerning the DCNRs surface rights are very complex. We arecurrently reviewing all of these issues, you advised, and to the extent we have legal flexibility,we will be guided first and foremost by our Departments mission and obligation to protect and

enhance our public lands.

The DCNRs refusal even to discuss our request for a public comment period is deeplytroubling. The reasons for public participation concerning gas potential gas development in the

Clarence Moore lands are clear. Not only are extraordinary public resources at stake; not only

has the public expressed an extraordinary amount of interest in protecting those resources theDCNR itself concluded in its 2010 study (Impacts of Leasing Additional State Forest for Gas

Development1) that there are zero State Forest Land acres suitable for [additional] gas leasing

involving surface disturbance. For the DCNR to allow surface disturbance on State-controlled

Loyalsock State Forest lands would be a de facto lease. We believe that for the DCNR to do this

without any public input would be an abuse of the DCNRs discretion.

The DCNR appears to misapprehend its obligations under the Conservation and Natural

Resources Act and Article I, Section 27 of the State Constitution. The DCNRs obligation toprotect, enhance, and conserve the Loyalsock State Forest is not contingent upon the

Departments having sufficient legal flexibility. The DCNR has a duty to protect, enhance, and

conserve State Forest and Park lands in all circumstances, regardless of their complexity.

Byzantine ownership patterns and awkward court decisions do not relieve the DCNR of itsstatutory and Constitutional responsibilities. The DCNR has a non-negotiable duty to protect and

enhance all State Forest lands, including the Loyalsock State Forest, for the benefit of future

generations.

Based on DCNR documents obtained pursuant to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law,

we know that in March, 2012 Anadarko submitted a proposed Loyalsock State Forestdevelopment plan to the DCNR and that the DCNR and Anadarko have since been engaged in

serious negotiations for a surface use agreement. The DCNR should immediately halt these

1http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/d_000603.pdf


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negotiations. What Pennsylvania needs, now, is a frank public discussion about all alternatives

for the Clarence Moore lands. Given the DCNRs conclusion in its 2010 study, the burden is onthe DCNR to demonstrate that any gas development should be allowed. This is all the more true

given that some 6,000 acres of the Clarence Moore lands were acquired or developed with

financial assistance under the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, such that their

conversion from public recreation use could require the Commonwealth to purchase replacementlands, at significant cost, and jeopardize the Commonwealths eligibility for future federal

grants. Given continuous advances in horizontal drilling technology, it is possible that allrecoverable gas under the Clarence Moore lands may soon become accessible from private lands

where Anadarko already has surface rights. Even if that does not happen, however, it remains

true that under the CNRA and Article I, Section 27 of the State Constitution, the DCNR may not

grant a right-of-way for gas development on the Clarence Moore lands unless it determines thatsuch development is in the public interest. For the DCNR to make this determination without

involving the public would be unreasonable.

The DCNR recently expressed that it would be willing to meet with local stakeholders

to discuss gas development in the Loyalsock State Forest. While we do not know whatstakeholders the DCNR had in mind, we do know that the members of our organizations whohike, boat, hunt, fish, and watch birds and wildlife in the Loyalsock State Forest come from

throughout the Commonwealth. Like all of the Commonwealths State Forests and Parks, the

Loyalsock is therefore astatewide resource, not a local one. Thus, it is imperative that the DCNR

conduct a statewide public comment process on any proposed development on the ClarenceMoore lands, including at least one public hearing, Meanwhile, the DCNR should halt all

negotiations with Anadarko and other parties over gas development on the Clarence Moore

lands.

We look forward to hearing from you, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss thisissue, answer any questions, and provide any additional information.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Barb Jarmoska Mark Szybist

Acting President, Responsible Drilling Alliance Staff Attorney, PennFuture

Richard Martin Jeff Schmidt

Coordinator, Director,

Pennsylvania Forest Coalition Sierra Club, Pennsylvania Chapter

Curt Ashenfelter Cathy Frankenberg

Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Policy Associate,Keystone Trails Association Appalachian Mountain Club


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cc: Governor Thomas W. CorbettHouse Environmental Resources and Energy Committee

Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee

The Honorable Garth Everett

The Honorable Rick MirabitoThe Honorable Gene Yaw

CoalitionLettertoSecretaryAllan3-6-13

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