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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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