Friday, August 31, 2012
How To Help
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| View from Sharp Top Vista. Image: RDA |
Pennsylvania's big woods are at risk. In a few short years the ridge
tops above Pine Creek Valley have been transformed into an industrial
zone. Now Rock Run and the Old Logger's Path are on the chopping block.
Here's what you can do about it:
Come to Ralston on September 8th, 2012 to show your support for Pennsylvania's wild wonders.
Write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper to tell the community that Rock Run & Old Loggers Path are under attack.
Tell Anadarko that Rock Run and the Old
Loggers Path are local treasures that should be protected. Ask them not
to develop their Clarence Moore mineral rights in the Loyalsock State
Forest.
Local Contact
Mary Wolfe
National Headquarters
1201 Lake Robbins Drive
The Woodlands, Texas 77380
832-636-1000
Ask Governor Corbett to prohibit Anadarko from drilling on the Clarence Moore tract in the Loyalsock State Forest.
Governor's Northeast Office
Director: Harry Forbes
Oppenheim Building, 3rd floor
409 Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 570-614-2090
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 570-614-2090
Ask DCNR Secretary Richard Allan to do everything in his power to halt natural gas development in the Old Logger's Path area.
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Rachel Carson State Office Building
Rachel Carson State Office Building
PO Box 8767
400 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767
cyntthomas@pa.gov
cyntthomas@pa.gov
Send your Rock Run & OLP memories to the Appalachain Mountain Club.
Cathy Frankenberg
Mid-Atlantic Policy Associate
Mid-Atlantic Policy Associate
Appalachian Mountain Club
cfrankenberg@outdoors.org
cfrankenberg@outdoors.org
Save Our State Forests
Pennsylvania’s State Forest encompasses one of
the largest unbroken expanses of forest remaining in the eastern
United States. This
land is a central defining characteristic of our region.
Our forests are an irreplaceable public resource that
improves our quality of life, provides invaluable protection for
drinking water, and gives long-term sustainable economic,
ecological, and recreational value.
These woods belong to us.
They are our special places to explore.
These forests offer adventures for families and friends.
They contain hunting grounds, fishing creeks, and favorite
trails. Pennsylvania’s
State Forests are places of beauty and solitude where lasting
memories are created.
Marcellus natural gas development on State
Forest land impacts the integrity of the forest, the water, soil and
air quality, and the recreational use of our public lands.
It creates a footprint of forest fragmentation and the
introduction of invasive species, both of which are incompatible
with forest sustainability.
Nearly one-half of the State Forest land in the
Marcellus Shale region is open to exploitation by the gas
industry. Only ten
percent of Pennsylvania’s public lands are legally protected from
gas development. The
short term profit from gas drilling will be far outweighed by the
long term damage to our forests.
Save
our State Forests from destruction!
Take this opportunity to defend our state’s future.
As elected officials pledged to uphold the
Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the rights of
PA citizens to clean water, clean air and quality of life,
preservation of these State Forests is both your duty and
obligation. (Click here
to view our state constitution - Article 1 Section 27)
We, the
citizens, demand:
-
A legislative moratorium on any additional leasing of State Forest lands for the purposes of natural gas exploration, drilling, production or pipelines.
-
A program to monitor and assess the impact of natural gas exploration, drilling, and production on State Forest land
-
Updated laws to protect our forests so as to preserve water and air quality, natural habitats, and recreational use
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Protecting Our Serenity
By: Jeff Mitchell
Over
the past decade I have hiked in many parks and forests across the nation,
from Acadia to Yosemite, Crater Lake to the Everglades. And yet there is one place I always
comes back to in my mind- the Old Loggers Path and Rock Run.
I first backpacked the Old Loggers Path about 11 or 12 years ago. It was a bright summer weekend, and I decided to do a solo hike. The forests conveyed every shade of green. I walked the path from Masten, heading to Rock Run, when I saw something ahead. It was a fawn. The fawn came bounding down the trail towards me before coming to a screeching halt only a few feet away. It stopped and stared, as it sniffed the air. I stood still in silence. The fawn eventually turned and walked off to my right.
A few hours later I descended along the trail to Rock Run. I was amazed. This creek carved itself into smooth, flowing bedrock, creating sapphire pools, waterslides, and chasms. Yellow Dog Run cascaded down from the side. The cool water cut through the heat and humidity of the day. It was truly one of the most beautiful streams I have ever seen.
I continued on the trail as it climbed the plateau, offering spectacular views from rock ledges over our vast untouched state forests. Forests that are now threatened by drilling, pipelines, roads and compressor stations.
The beauty of the Old Loggers Path is its isolation. It only crosses about six dirt forestry roads; deep forests line the trail; views barely hint at development. That will all change if drilling is allowed near the trail. The beauty, serenity, and value of this popular trail will be destroyed. People from across the nation have hiked the Old Loggers Path, impressed by what the trail has to offer. I would hate for them to return, only to come away with a far less favorable impression of our trails and public lands.
Since my first hike on the Old Loggers Path, I have returned countless times. I have always been surprised by the magic of Rock Run. Its deep pools, winding water slides, cliffs, ledges, chasms, and forests create a mosaic of colors and scenery that exists nowhere else. I have brought many friends to Rock Run, and of all the places in Pennsylvania, it is the one they remember.
The beauty of Rock Run can be found throughout its gorge. Stunning gorges and waterfalls exist on many tributary streams; cliffs and rock cities crown the crests of the plateaus; wetlands, meadows, and deep forests encompass its watershed.
Rock Run means so much to so many. Anglers come to fish its pristine waters. Rock climbers scale its cliffs, boulders and ledges. Hikers explore its waterfalls and chasms. Kayakers come to run its rapids. Families come to swim and enjoy the outdoors.
Rock Run must not simply be spared from drilling, it must be protected. Its watershed on the state forest should be set aside from all development and the stream itself should be designated as a state wild and scenic river. No other stream or river is more deserving.
What does it say about us as Pennsylvanians if we allow what makes our state so special and beautiful to be destroyed and degraded? A balance must be struck with drilling and development. That balance does not include sacrificing our special places. Otherwise, future generations will never know what we once had.
I first backpacked the Old Loggers Path about 11 or 12 years ago. It was a bright summer weekend, and I decided to do a solo hike. The forests conveyed every shade of green. I walked the path from Masten, heading to Rock Run, when I saw something ahead. It was a fawn. The fawn came bounding down the trail towards me before coming to a screeching halt only a few feet away. It stopped and stared, as it sniffed the air. I stood still in silence. The fawn eventually turned and walked off to my right.
A few hours later I descended along the trail to Rock Run. I was amazed. This creek carved itself into smooth, flowing bedrock, creating sapphire pools, waterslides, and chasms. Yellow Dog Run cascaded down from the side. The cool water cut through the heat and humidity of the day. It was truly one of the most beautiful streams I have ever seen.
I continued on the trail as it climbed the plateau, offering spectacular views from rock ledges over our vast untouched state forests. Forests that are now threatened by drilling, pipelines, roads and compressor stations.
The beauty of the Old Loggers Path is its isolation. It only crosses about six dirt forestry roads; deep forests line the trail; views barely hint at development. That will all change if drilling is allowed near the trail. The beauty, serenity, and value of this popular trail will be destroyed. People from across the nation have hiked the Old Loggers Path, impressed by what the trail has to offer. I would hate for them to return, only to come away with a far less favorable impression of our trails and public lands.
Since my first hike on the Old Loggers Path, I have returned countless times. I have always been surprised by the magic of Rock Run. Its deep pools, winding water slides, cliffs, ledges, chasms, and forests create a mosaic of colors and scenery that exists nowhere else. I have brought many friends to Rock Run, and of all the places in Pennsylvania, it is the one they remember.
The beauty of Rock Run can be found throughout its gorge. Stunning gorges and waterfalls exist on many tributary streams; cliffs and rock cities crown the crests of the plateaus; wetlands, meadows, and deep forests encompass its watershed.
Rock Run means so much to so many. Anglers come to fish its pristine waters. Rock climbers scale its cliffs, boulders and ledges. Hikers explore its waterfalls and chasms. Kayakers come to run its rapids. Families come to swim and enjoy the outdoors.
Rock Run must not simply be spared from drilling, it must be protected. Its watershed on the state forest should be set aside from all development and the stream itself should be designated as a state wild and scenic river. No other stream or river is more deserving.
What does it say about us as Pennsylvanians if we allow what makes our state so special and beautiful to be destroyed and degraded? A balance must be struck with drilling and development. That balance does not include sacrificing our special places. Otherwise, future generations will never know what we once had.
Jeff Mitchell is an attorney who lives in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. He
is a member of Keystone Trails Association and the Alpine Club of Williamsport. He's also written hiking guides including Backpacking Pennsylvania, and Hiking the Endless Mountains.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Rock Run Love
Some Lycoming County natives and outdoor enthusiasts wrote letters to RDA expressing their love for Old Loggers Path & Rock Run. They gave us permission to share their letters with you:
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| Vista on Old Loggers Path. Photo by: Michael Juskelis |
Thank you for helping in the effort to save 'my' mountain, Rock Run! I grew up in Ralston and those mountains were my playground. I don't
get home often but when I do I go up on the mountain and soak it in. I
have told my family to sprinkle my ashes at Band Rock and 2nd Falls so I
can be home where I grew up in the place I love. I know you will try to save the mountain for me and I thank you for your effort!
-Ann Campbell Brooks
p.s. My family history is on that mountain as well. My grandfather and
great uncle made the old road (long overgrown now) that circled the
mountain top. Too many wonderful stories and memories.You do know that there is an old cemetery on top of the mountain as well as the one at the bottom? History...
I was up driving around the Old Loggers Path in December 2011. We were up
there around the 27th and I could not believe how much damage was done
from the flooding. Everywhere you looked in the woods there were
hundreds if not thousands of little plastic flags and yellow tape
marking spots for the gas industry to wreck some of the forest to look
for gas. I grew up in Williamsport and have hiked, camped and went
swimming in this area since 1976. My parents would take us on day trips
and camping trips since the mid 1960s. I have cherished and loved this
area for over 47 years and will not stand by and let it be destroyed. I
really don't have any money to contribute to the cause but I do have a
computer and will write as many letters as need be to stop the gas
industry from wrecking this area. Give me a list of who to contact and I
will be more than happy to voice my opinion and outrage to whom it may
concern.
Thank you,
Warren Erb Jr.
werb4637@verizon.net
Please Circulate!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Group Fights State To Halt Glen Drilling
Published August 25th, 2012
Rock Run in Lycoming County is one of those crazy-beautiful spots that define Pennsylvania outdoors — clear, natural water pools formed inside giant rock look like nature’s idea of a soaking tub.
There are scenic waterfalls inside a lush forest and a hiking trail that’s not for the faint of heart or body, but will reward whoever treks it with memorable natural sights.
The state’s own Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has called Rock Run “a fragile beauty.”
So Valley environmentalists wonder how this place, which state government itself values, can be open for gas drilling.
“This is where the governor has a chance to do the right thing,” said Ralph Kisberg, board president of the Responsible Drilling Alliance, a Williamsport-based group that rallies against the natural gas industry.
Lycoming County records show that Anadarko Petroleum Corp., one of the most prominent Marcellus Shale drillers, bought a 50 percent share of the mineral rights under Loyalsock State Forest. The checkerboard layout of the property finds Anadarko with shares south and east of Rock Run, not directly on top of it.
Pennsylvania bought the forest land in 1933 but did not acquire the mineral rights Anadarko now owns. But the state did acquire other mineral rights, Kisberg said, in other adjacent rectangular blocks surrounding or touching what Anadarko has.
This puts the state in a unique position: as owner of the surface rights, DCNR would have to grant some kind of access to Anadarko and the owners of the other half of those subsurface rights before Anadarko could develop the land for drilling.
It’s also believed that the deed to the property, some 20,000 acres that had been privately owned, limited the surface rights access for 50 years. That stipulation has long expired, but it gives DCNR the option to slow, if not fully stop, natural gas development in the Rock Run region.
And that is what Kisberg and the others want to see. They plan a rally 1:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at a fire hall in Ralston, and will lead the gathering into the Loyalsock State Forest to see the area to understand what is at stake.
Taking this stand to spare Rock Run and its surroundings preserves it for future generations, but also makes a moral point, environmentalists say.
“At one point do you say enough?” said Rev. Leah Shade, pastor of the United in Christ Lutheran Church in West Milton. “At what point do you say money and profit isn’t as important as keeping our natural beauty and resources?”
The administration of Gov. Tom Corbett has cooperated more with the drilling industry. One of the governor’s first moves in office was to lift former Gov. Ed Rendell’s moratorium on drilling in state forest land.
But Corbett lately has seen defeats on the drilling front. In July, a state appellate court struck down provisions in Act 13, a law regulating the natural gas industry, that took zoning out of the hands of local municipalities. The court ruled 4-3 that the state can make municipalities allow drilling where local zoning rules would prohibit it.
The administration has filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court, which could hear the case in October.
Corbett also recently ordered the Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates the natural gas industry, “to process environmentally protective applications as expeditiously as possible” at drilling sites. This too has come under criticism, namely from PennFuture, a watchdog group for the environment, which fears speed will trump safety.
Nevertheless, something besides pro and con gas drilling may trump all the arguments, and that is the current natural gas glut. Natural gas prices reached an all-time low in July of $2.74 per million BTUs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, which keeps this data.
Pennsylvania now has more natural gas in stock than it knows what to do with, prompting some drillers to slow or stop all together for a while.
Anadarko is among them. In July, the company reported a net loss during the second quarter owing to low natural gas prices that led it to record a $978 million write-down, the Houston Chronicle reported. Anadarko said the low natural gas prices slammed its coal bed methane properties.
Save Rock Run
Published August 25, 2012
Gov. Tom Corbett did a two-day kayak tour of the Upper Delaware River
last week. Earlier this summer, the governor embarked on a similar
journey on the Allegheny River ending in Pittsburgh. Last year, the
governor paddled the Susquehanna River.
We hope Ralph Kisberg, chairman of the board of the Responsible Drilling Alliance, and his fellow environmental advocates issue an invitation to the governor to visit Rock Run.
If they have not made such an invitation, we will.
We hope the governor considers himself invited.
Kisberg and others are trying to attract attention to Rock Run, what they see as a secret jewel in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
Rock Run, north of Williamsport, has been identified by outdoor enthusiasts as the most beautiful hiking location in a state rich with outdoor vistas and sylvan forests.
Rock Run also happens to be in the middle of the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling region. A gas company has obtained the mineral rights beneath land near Rock Run. The environmentalists say their study of deed restrictions suggests there is an opportunity for the state to steer drillers away from Rock Run and protect an old logging trail used by hikers nearby.
They are pinning their hopes on the fact that the governor could cite that deed restriction while barring drilling near Rock Run. They hope that drilling will be delayed until advances are made in gas extraction that would enable the drilling to take place with fewer potential impacts on the surrounding environment.
The environmentalists are greatly outgunned. They are advocating on behalf of a natural resource that is unfamiliar to most of those who are not from the area immediately around Rock Run. Much of the political muscle in Pennsylvania is concentrated in the southeastern and southwestern corners of the state where there is little broad support or concern about preserving clean rolling streams and mesmerizing tumbling water falls along the sparsely populated ridges of Pennsylvania.
Gov. Corbett and other elected leaders in the state, including Lycoming County's Sen. Gene Yaw, have proven to be mainly pro-energy industry, recognizing drilling as an economic boon in otherwise challenging economic times.
Overcoming that inertia will not be easy. Kisberg and friends will need to build a broad coalition to gain sufficient attention.
If there is a place worth effectively shielding from the demonstrably uncertain impacts of gas drilling, it would be Rock Run. Surely, Pennsylvania's elected leaders, including the governor, would recognize the importance of protecting one of creation's most precious natural jewels. If only they would take a closer look.
We hope Ralph Kisberg, chairman of the board of the Responsible Drilling Alliance, and his fellow environmental advocates issue an invitation to the governor to visit Rock Run.
If they have not made such an invitation, we will.
We hope the governor considers himself invited.
Kisberg and others are trying to attract attention to Rock Run, what they see as a secret jewel in the Pennsylvania Wilds.
Rock Run, north of Williamsport, has been identified by outdoor enthusiasts as the most beautiful hiking location in a state rich with outdoor vistas and sylvan forests.
Rock Run also happens to be in the middle of the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling region. A gas company has obtained the mineral rights beneath land near Rock Run. The environmentalists say their study of deed restrictions suggests there is an opportunity for the state to steer drillers away from Rock Run and protect an old logging trail used by hikers nearby.
They are pinning their hopes on the fact that the governor could cite that deed restriction while barring drilling near Rock Run. They hope that drilling will be delayed until advances are made in gas extraction that would enable the drilling to take place with fewer potential impacts on the surrounding environment.
The environmentalists are greatly outgunned. They are advocating on behalf of a natural resource that is unfamiliar to most of those who are not from the area immediately around Rock Run. Much of the political muscle in Pennsylvania is concentrated in the southeastern and southwestern corners of the state where there is little broad support or concern about preserving clean rolling streams and mesmerizing tumbling water falls along the sparsely populated ridges of Pennsylvania.
Gov. Corbett and other elected leaders in the state, including Lycoming County's Sen. Gene Yaw, have proven to be mainly pro-energy industry, recognizing drilling as an economic boon in otherwise challenging economic times.
Overcoming that inertia will not be easy. Kisberg and friends will need to build a broad coalition to gain sufficient attention.
If there is a place worth effectively shielding from the demonstrably uncertain impacts of gas drilling, it would be Rock Run. Surely, Pennsylvania's elected leaders, including the governor, would recognize the importance of protecting one of creation's most precious natural jewels. If only they would take a closer look.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Eye Candy
If you haven't visited Rock Run or the Old Loggers Path area in awhile, you might have forgotten how lovely it is. Below are some snaps to help remind you. Still, nothing compares to seeing it in person.
Join us September 8th at 1:30 pm in Ralston, PA behind the Fire Company for
a short walk into the woods followed by music, speakers, and lots of
brainstorming about how to save this special place from industrial
development.
Death Of A Wild Wonder?
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| Rock Run Valley as seen from the Old Loggers Path. Image: Nicholas T. |
Those of us who are dismayed by the increasing industrialization of
the PA Wilds, the Endless Mountains and our lumber heritage region have
stood by, resignedly, while our political leaders have sold out so many
of our favorite public land places to shale gas development. Here in
Lycoming County we are seeing the beautiful Pine Creek valley in our
Tiadaghton State Forest turned into an industrial park up on the top of
the ridges on either side of the creeks around Waterville, in the Bull
Run area, up above Ramsey, and on Huntley Mountain between Pine Creek
and Little Pine. In the Loyalsock State Forest, we know the gas
industry has a bulls-eye on the Allegheny Ridge where the southern end
of the Loyalsock Trail begins, and development has begun across the
Loyalsock creek on top of Jacoby Mountain, and is well underway east of
RT 14 on Bodine Mountain, in the area surrounding Gray’s Run and even on
Elk Knob Round Top.
Gas development on fairly flat and wide ridge tops hides the visual
damage from most of us, minus the wretched scars of pipeline pathways
running up and down forested mountain slopes. But if you fly over the
area now or hike on the ridge tops you get a sobering look at what is
occurring where for decades so many have gone to hunt, ski or to enjoy
rejuvenating solitude or camaraderie in places where nature, not man,
dominates the experience of being there.
Like area residents, many who live far away and have occasionally
enjoyed the wild wonders of our area appreciated knowing they were
there, not just for human benefit but also for wildlife and as sources
of pure water, native fish populations and the production of oxygen.
Many here have accepted the changes foisted upon us grudgingly and with a
sadness that comes with understanding the power of the energy
extraction industry and the complicity of politicians easily swayed by
false economic arguments and seemingly easy solutions to complex
societal problems like unemployment and budgetary constraints.
But now, right here in north central Pennsylvania, we are facing a
situation that for many of us is unthinkable. This will surely be the
last straw to all who love the outdoors, whose needs include at least
occasional exposure to the wonders of nature, and who are deeply moved
by natural beauty and invigorated by displays of the power of nature
over the scope of time.
We now find our own most special place threatened, the wild wonder
where we take our out-of-town guests, where we retreat to be awed and
inspired. Our own hidden gem, the magically beautiful stream called Rock
Run, east of the village of Ralston, is facing the prospect of
bulldozers and drilling operations in its watershed and the forest
around it.
Here is what we know about the situation: After numerous RDA members
reported seismic testing activity in the Rock Run area last summer, a
search of Courthouse records revealed that Anadarko Petroleum had
purchased—not leased, but purchased—a 50% share of the mineral rights
under Loyalsock State Forest land in a checkerboard-type pattern that
reaches the Rock Run watershed in parts, while being mostly located to
the south and east of it, up on Sullivan and Potash Mountains, and to
the east around the old Masten town site, right in the heart of the
circular route of the nationally-acclaimed hiking and backpacking trail,
the Old Logger’s Path.
When the Commonwealth purchased the forest land in 1933 it did not
acquire the mineral rights now owned by Anadarko, but apparently did
acquire other mineral rights in mostly adjacent rectangular blocks
either surrounding or touching the Anadarko rights in what looks to be
about a 20,000 acre region. We understand that normally subsurface
rights take precedence over surface ownership rights and that the DCNR
would be stuck having to grant some kind of access to Anadarko and the
owners of the other half of those rights to get their eons in creation
windfall, but it is believed that the deed to the property limited the
surface rights access to a fifty -year term – a term that has long since
expired. What we don’t know is whether the DCNR is taking full
advantage of its legal rights to stop or slow and minimize any
development in that precious wild wonder in the forested ecosystem that
makes up the Rock Run and Old Logger’s Path region.
In fact, what we fear is that the Corbett administration, in their
normal gas mania, will not only offer development paths of least
resistance rather than avoiding ecologically and aesthetically sensitive
ones, but also will try and cut a deal for leasing the rights to the
checkerboard of parcels that remain in the Commonwealth’s hands.
For those who love this special place, please make your concerns and
feelings known to our Governor and his DCNR Secretary Allan. If someone
could persuade the editor or publisher of your local newspaper to get up
there and take a look, maybe that would help.
Please join us on Saturday September 8th at 1:30pm as we
gather in back of the Fire Hall off Rt. 14 in the village of Ralston in
northern Lycoming County to walk less than a half mile into the
Loyalsock state forest to discuss how to preserve this incredible asset
for future generations. Plenty of daylight will be left for you to
explore the wild wonder of Rock Run and your state forest land that
surrounds it.
Ralph Kisberg
For the Responsible Drilling Alliance
P.O. Box 502
Williamsport, PA 17703
570.494.7583
www.responsibledrillingalliance.org
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