year’s JVAS Conservation Award “for his tireless efforts to protect wild habitat and improve water quality in and along the Little Juniata River.” Anderson, who has been president of the Little Juniata River Association for the past seven years, has spearheaded the group's activities in monitoring, preserving, and improving the Little Juniata River (“j”) and its tributaries. |
| Adult male Blackburnian Warbler in spring. Photo by Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman. |
The journey undertaken by this small migrant may seem staggering to us. To the bird, it’s both a matter-of-fact necessity and a matter of life and death. The warbler migrates mostly at night, navigating by the stars. It takes off just after dusk, flies through the hours of darkness, and comes down in the dim light of pre-dawn, traveling perhaps a couple of hundred miles in a night. Between long flights it may rest and feed for several days, building up its strength and its fat reserves to fuel another long red-eye flight. Moving north through Central America, it may fly straight across the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the southern United States, in an overwater flight that begins at dusk but may last well into the following afternoon; but most of its flights are shorter. Over a period of a few weeks, if it survives all the hazards of migration, the Blackburnian Warbler makes its way from the equator up to the northern United States.
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| Adult male Black-throated Green Warbler in spring. Photo by Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman. |
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| Adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in spring. Photo by Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman. |
Why the rush? Ironically, it isn’t even about the expectation of big profits from the electricity that will be generated. The rush now is to cash in on government incentives for “green” energy. Maybe the turbines will generate significant amounts of electricity, maybe they won’t, but that’s down the road. Right now the focus is on getting the deals signed, taking advantage of the grants and tax breaks before they expire.
In these efforts to bring wind power to the shoreline in northwest Ohio, impacts on birdlife are being essentially ignored and legitimate concerns are being pushed aside. The state’s Division of Wildlife had produced maps of “avian concern zones” for wind power many months ago, with a three-mile band along the lake shore being included among the areas of highest concern for potential bird kills, but these maps have received little attention. High-ranking officials of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, in recent statements, have managed to imply that no such maps exist. One local business owner was being courted by an energy company that wanted to put up a large turbine on his property. When he asked about potential harm to migrating birds, the company representative looked him in the eye: “Don’t worry,” he said. “Our turbines have been proven not to kill birds."
That statement is nonsense, of course, but it’s shorthand for a common argument being made by the wind industry. The usual claim is that the typical wind turbine kills only a few birds per year. Consultants have pointed out that night-migrating birds usually fly more than 500 feet above the ground, high enough that they naturally avoid the blades of even the large turbines. And that is true. For the most part, nocturnal migrants will pass safely above wind farms. But it becomes a spurious argument when we start talking about stopover habitats, where birds are actively taking off and landing. Commercial jetliners may cruise at thirty thousand feet, but no one would use that as an excuse to put up a wind turbine at the end of an airport runway.
The stopover habitat in northwest Ohio is like a major airport for migrating birds, like the world’s busiest airports rolled into one – except that these vast numbers of birds are mostly landing or taking off in the dim light of dusk or pre-dawn, when visibility is at its poorest. A badly placed turbine adjacent to such a zone could be smashing birds out of the air by the thousands.
Who am I to be writing about this? Opinion pieces on this topic (especially those with pro-industry angles) often are written anonymously, but I believe the players should identify themselves: My name is Kenn Kaufman. I’m a lifelong birder and naturalist, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America, Lives of North American Birds, and ten other books. I’m listed as a field editor or contributing editor for four magazines that deal with birds or conservation. Currently I serve on the boards of directors of five organizations concerned with the same subjects. But in this essay I am speaking only for myself as an individual.
Why am I not speaking for one of the organizations or publications with which I’m associated? Because there are sure to be negative responses to this essay. Big money is involved, and companies that stand to profit are not going to sit idle under criticism. We’re past the days when big companies would hire thugs to beat up the opposition, but even in this more civilized age, a certain amount of verbal thuggery is almost inevitable. Canadian novelist (and birder) Margaret Atwood spoke out against the placement of a wind farm adjacent to Point Pelee, the famous stopover habitat on the opposite shore of Lake Erie, and she was savaged in the press. And there have been serious attempts to discredit other people who have spoken out against other wind power projects.
With the expectation that I’ll be targeted as well, I should make my position clear. I’m aware of the problems associated with the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and with the urgent need to do something about it. I fully support efforts to move, in a responsible way, away from the burning of coal and petroleum and toward energy sources that are renewable, sustainable, and non-polluting. In principle I’m in favor of wind, solar, geothermal, and other forms of “green” energy, with the stipulation that each project should be reviewed to see if it is, in fact, environmentally sound. It would be fair to say that I have a moderately favorable view of the potential for wind power. There are legitimate questions about its efficiency and consistency, and about the actual amount of power generated, but if these can be answered, I am pro-wind. The sticking point is the site selection for wind projects.
Opponents of specific wind power projects are often portrayed as hypocritical NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) who won’t sacrifice their local scenery for the sake of the environment. I can’t be tarred with that brush, because I can honestly say that I wouldn’t object so much to having turbines literally in my back yard. I live more than seven miles south of the lake shore. I know from direct observation that the numbers of migrant birds stopping over in the trees of my town are a mere fraction of the numbers using the woods along the lake. Wind turbines in my town undoubtedly would kill a few birds, but they probably wouldn’t kill thousands.
Or would they? We really don’t know. We don’t have enough research results yet. When migrating birds are arriving at a stopover habitat, what is their angle of descent? Do they drop straight down from a great height, or do they start descending several miles away? We don’t know. When they take off to resume their journey, do they aim straight for the stars, or do they climb gradually? We don’t know. If we establish a protective buffer zone around a major stopover habitat, should it be a mile wide, or three miles, or five? We don’t know. The research has not been completed. Careful radar studies could provide a lot of answers, and such studies are just beginning in northwest Ohio. Within a few years, we may know a lot more about this subject. But the pressure is on to start erecting wind turbines right now, as quickly as possible, without waiting for any such studies.
People who express concern about bird mortality at wind turbines are usually treated with condescension at best (with phrases like “Bird-lovers are all a-flutter at the thought that Tweetie Bird might get hurt”). I’ve seen a dozen wind industry fact sheets pointing out, rather patronizingly, that wild birds are killed by many things, including window strikes, automobiles, and roaming cats. This is true. But the birds most often killed by cars and house cats are the birds that live around roads and houses – abundant, widespread species, with populations large enough to sustain the losses. If ten million House Sparrows are hit by cars every year, it won’t make a dent in their total population. But when you place hazards around stopover habitats for migratory birds, you are turning this equation upside down. Such hazards have their worst impact on the long-distance migrants, the species that are already most at risk.
As the threats of planned wind turbines loom all along the lake shore, northwest Ohio may become a test case: a test to see whether stopover habitat can ever be protected, to see whether we birders will ever stand up for the creatures that we watch. This is one region where the birds and their habitats should have the beginnings of a broad-based constituency. Here, the hotel owners, restaurant owners, store owners, and others have realized that visiting birders are important to their business. Here, the local chambers of commerce and visitors’ bureaus have embraced the annual influx of birders. Here, the birders keep coming, more and more, from all over the midwest, all over the U.S. and farther afield. Local place names like Magee Marsh, Crane Creek, Ottawa Refuge, and Maumee Bay are becoming household words among birders continentwide. Here, for once, the ecological and economic benefits of protecting stopover habitat should work hand in hand. But will it turn out that way?
Right now, in November 2010, several entities are pushing forward to try to get wind turbine projects approved before some government incentives run out at the end of the year. As I write this, they face very little opposition. A small local organization, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, is trying to raise local public awareness of stopover habitat, but they are working almost alone. Can they turn the tide of public opinion and policy? This could be the place where the birders and their business allies finally make a stand and insist on bare-minimum protections: no wind turbines within three miles of a major migratory stopover habitat. This could be where we draw our line in the sand. But the wind industry threatens to blow away the sand and obliterate the line.
The timing of this is bad from the birding viewpoint: spring is the high season here, half a year ago or half a year in the future, and now the birders are elsewhere and thinking about other things. The traveling birders who gathered here last May, celebrating the “Biggest Week in American Birding” and calling this “the Warbler Capital of the World,” are somewhere else now, looking at other birds. Few are aware of the struggle unfolding in northwest Ohio. Maybe they will come back next spring, maybe they won’t. But the birds will come back every spring, as long as they survive. And what they find when they arrive may depend on efforts that we make right now.
The long-distance migrants that stop over in northwest Ohio are arguably the most inspiring birds in the world: impressive for their numbers, for their sheer variety, for their colors and songs, for the remarkable scope of their travels. They make up a major element of the ecosystems of northern forests in summer and of tropical forests in winter, and in between they undertake vast journeys, employing navigational powers and strength and stamina that we can hardly imagine. But these impressive birds are increasingly at risk. Their nesting habitats in the north and their wintering habitats in the tropics are becoming more fragmented, crucial stopover habitats are vanishing, obstacles and threats along the way are proliferating, as it becomes more and more of a challenge for these small wayfarers to retrace their ancestral routes.
A Blackburnian Warbler arriving in northwest Ohio in spring is already a veteran traveler. Hatched in the northern forest during some previous summer, it has already flown to South America and back at least once. Navigating by the stars at night, evading predators by day, it has paused at a score of stopover sites, found a winter home in mountain forests near the equator, then initiated the return flight to the north. By the time it reaches Ohio, it has made it most of the way back. Flying north across Ohio, buoyed up by a south wind in the hour before first light, the bird may see a hint of the open waters of Lake Erie stretching out ahead. Rather than continue on across the water with daylight approaching, the bird drops lower and lower. Ahead in the darkness of predawn, a darker shadow suggests a line of trees, and the warbler aims for this shelter . . .
But it is never going to make it. The same south wind that carries the tiny migrant is also turning a gigantic steel blade, and in a moment the two will collide with such shattering force as to splinter the bird’s skull and crush its lungs, stop its heartbeat in an instant, and hurl its broken and lifeless body to the ground.
Then the blades strike another bird. And another. And another. And another.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
If, after reading this, you're willing to take action, please consider signing a petition asking for a three-year moratorium on building wind turbines in the most critical areas of stopover habitat in northwest Ohio. A link to the petition is here.
A DAY ON BRUSH MOUNTAIN
The Nature Conservancy works to restore forest after extensive logging
By Mark Leberfinger, Altoona Mirror Staff Writer
— Posted Sept. 19, 2010 —
Cricket chirps, bird songs and even the hoot of an owl replace the din of traffic coming from Frankstown Road, Interstate 99 and Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
It's a place where Deb Tencer goes several times a month: the Brush Mountain Preserve, a 640-acre tract of land in Logan and Frankstown townships owned by The Nature Conservancy.
The Conservancy, with more than 1 million members, is the world's leading conservation organization working to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people, said Todd Sampsell, Pennsylvania's deputy director.
It has protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers and streams worldwide, he said. Work is ongoing in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.
The Conservancy has opened the Brush Mountain Preserve to public hunting, hiking and bird watching, Sampsell said. People can access the land from Starling Drive in the Sylvan East development.
The only protected lands on the mountain, which runs about 30 miles and is more than 2,500 feet high, are the Conservancy's land, municipal watershed and a small portion of State Game Lands 166.
"It's really peaceful here," Tencer said during a recent hike. "I enjoy being outdoors and going hiking. You get to see a lot of wildlife and plants."
The Conservancy purchased the land from Scarlet Oak Acquisition LLP of West Milton in 2008 as part of an effort to encourage science-driven conservation of the forests of the central Appalachians region of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The land is important for conservation because it is a large unbroken forest — one of the last examples in Blair County, Juniata Valley Audubon Society Conservation Chairman Stan Kotala said.
The woodlands provide habitat to the federally endangered Indiana bat, which roosts two miles away in the old Turkey Valley Mennonite Church at Canoe Creek State Park; the largest maternal colony of little brown bats in Pennsylvania; and the Allegheny woodrat, a threatened Pennsylvania species, he said. There are also species of special concern — Eastern red bats and silver-haired bats — along with black bears, wild turkeys and deer.
Brush Mountain is considered important bird and mammal areas by the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, a nonprofit research organization that collects data on the state's biological diversity and provides it to the general public, scientists, state and federal agencies and lawmakers.
"Along Bald Eagle Ridge and Brush Mountain, there are updrafts so [raptors and other birds] can migrate. They soar on the winds deflected by the mountains," Kotala said.
The Brush Mountain project is not the Conservancy's first work in south-central Pennsylvania. It helped the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy acquire 68 acres in Bedford County in 1991 — the first conservation project on the Pennsylvania side of the Sideling Hill Creek watershed in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
'A demonstration project'
Scarlet Oak's owner approached the Conservancy and wanted to sell the Brush Mountain land after conducting logging operations there, Sampsell said.
"It just happened to be a good fit for us," he said.
Although sections of the land were heavily forested, it is considered among the best forested areas in Pennsylvania, with a mix of oak and hickory species, Sampsell said.
"This is a globally significant area in the central Appalachians, which contains some of the highest amount of biological diversity," Sampsell said. "It's an area that was potentially threatened by more development."
The Preserve is adjacent to the Sylvan East development.
"We bought this property as a demonstration project," Sampsell said, noting it will demonstrate good conservation practices that can be shared with private landowners interested in working with the Conservancy through its Working Woodlands program, he said.
Working Woodlands is offered at no out-of-pocket cost to the landowner, who enters either into a long-term land management agreement or forest conservation easement with the Conservancy to prevent the land from being converted to nonforest uses and unsustainable management practices.
The Brush Mountain Preserve is enrolled in the program, which means a propertywide forest assessment will be conducted and a Forest Stewardship Council-certified forest management program created.
There had been a lot of "high-grading," a logging practice where only the best trees are taken and the forest is left in a less than healthy state, Sampsell said.
An aerial map shows bald spots throughout the property where the high-grading occurred.
"There's still some harvesting we can do — taking the undesirable for the desirable," Sampsell said.
Privately held forest land, which comprises more than 70 percent of Pennsylvania forests, is susceptible in several ways, Sampsell said. Owners may not have the professional guidance to properly manage their forests or be forced to quickly harvest trees or sell the land because of financial circumstances.
Trees capture carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, which plays a role in climate change, Sampsell said. Using the power of the forest, landowners can trade the trees' carbon-capturing ability with private industry, which needs environmental offsets to continue its work.
Long-term agreements with landowners are necessary, because "once an investment has been made [by industry], then we have to ensure the carbon doesn't disappear," he said.
The Conservancy has partnered with Blue Source, one of the nation's largest carbon project developers and marketers, Sampsell said. Foresters determine how many tons of carbon are captured in a forested area and that data is used to determine its value in the trading marketplace.
Carbon trades for about $3 to $4 per ton — a modest price, Sampsell said.
Landowners have a new revenue stream in addition to what may be generated through harvesting, Sampsell said. The Conservancy takes a share of the carbon money as its fee for the Working Woodlands program.
Cooperative effort
Although The Nature Conservancy has nearly 1 million members worldwide, groups like Juniata Valley Audubon Society, the Brush Mountain Sportsmen's Association and the Blair Woodland Association, as well as people like businessman Philip Devorris, are necessary to make projects work.
The Blair Woodland Association is a nonprofit group comprised of private landowners and others interested in sustainable forest management practices and educating others about them.
Devorris, who used to live in the neighborhood, has hiked on Brush Mountain for about 20 years and still owns a small piece of land on the mountain.
He said he became concerned that the peace and tranquility of the mountain would be lost.
"You don't worry about the forest until it starts to disappear," Devorris said. "You take it for granted. You realize what you're going to be missing."
He started to look into ways to preserve the forest when he learned about the Conservancy's efforts and helped to bring a group of people together to support its work.
"The Nature Conservancy is very well financed and educated in forestry and is a global leader. This land establishes a beachhead for them and allows other like-minded individuals to contribute money and/or offer significant tracts of land [to add to the work]," he said.
Devorris has been a great supporter of the Preserve, which has allowed the Conservancy to establish contact with other conservationists and adjoining property owners, Sampsell said.
"We're about the plants, animals and natural communities," he said. "The question is: 'How can we work and live better with nature?'"
A find on the mountain
A gentle breeze blew on the mountain as Tencer kept a steady pace on the dusty, rocky trail — once a logging road.
She stopped when something caught her eye. Of all the acorns on the trail, Tencer focused on one. It jumped out among the sea of fallen green, golden brown and brown oak nuts.
"It's a black one," she said.
Tencer examined it, and then quickly put it in her pocket.
"I'm like a kid putting things in my pocket. I'm glad I do the laundry [at home]," she said.
Tencer, who is the Juniata Valley Audubon Society's field trip coordinator, later would consult her nature books to find out more about her find.
On other trips to the mountain, Tencer said she's seen deer, wild turkey and lots of birds.
"I've also seen the Allegheny woodrat, which is pretty elusive. I'm pretty lucky to see one," she said of the animal whose preferred habitat is rocky areas in deciduous forests.
When hikers reach the top of the trail, they are treated to a vista of Altoona, Chestnut Flats and Allegheny Ridge wind farms and Wopsononock, Cresson and Blue Knob mountains. After a short walk to the left, the Turkey Valley toward Lock Mountain comes into view, somewhat obscured by power lines.
"It's great being so close to the forest. Within minutes, you're in the woods [from Altoona]," she said.
On the way out of the forest, Tencer took something else with her.
She picked up a bunch of Rolling Rock beer bottles — some broken, some intact — that partiers left behind in a fire ring.
"They'll go in my recycling bin," she said.
Return to topGROUPS CHALLENGE EPA POSITION ON LEAD AMMUNITION PETITION DENIAL
From the Web site of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC)
The American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), and other members of a diverse coalition of conservation, animal health, and hunting groups have challenged the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny their petition to ban the use of lead as a component of hunting ammunition. The groups contend that, contrary to the EPA’s assertion, the agency does have the authority to act under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The petition also called for a ban on the use of lead in fishing gear, and that part is still under consideration by EPA.
“The EPA erred, either purposely or by not reading the applicable laws we cited in our extensive, well-researched petition, in their rush to dismiss the hunting ammunition portion of our complaint before the November elections. Their authority to regulate lead in hunting ammunition is abundantly clear from the most cursory reading of the House of Representatives portion of the legislative history of the TSCA,” said Darin Schroeder, vice president of Conservation Advocacy for the ABC.
The legislative history of the TSCA plainly states: “... the Committee does not exclude from regulation under the bill chemical components of ammunition that could be hazardous because of their chemical properties.”
In addition to the ABC and the CBD, the petition was also signed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Association of Avian Veterinarians, and Project Gutpile (a hunters’ group). Since the petition was originally filed on August 3, about 40 additional groups also have signed on in support, giving the petition even more broad-based support.
Since the EPA denial of the petition on August 26, the CBD has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the EPA to obtain copies of all documents and materials related to the EPA decision. In addition, the ABC has requested a meeting with EPA Assistant Administrator Steve Owens, in the hopes of receiving an explanation for the basis for the Agency’s sudden and remarkable decision.
“Unfortunately, our request for a meeting with EPA officials has so far gone ignored. The EPA’s dismissal of the ammunition portion of our petition is clearly not grounded in the law or well-established congressional intent, and it is the obligation of the Administration to accept its legal responsibility and affirmatively act on this issue within 90 days time. Without question, we are looking at all options for recourse,” Schroeder said.
“The paint industry got the lead out of paint, the auto industry got the lead out of tire weights, the toy industry got it out of children’s toys, the petroleum industry got it out of gasoline, and the home-building industry got it out of the pipes. We also need to get lead out of ammunition and fishing gear,” Schroeder said.
“Studies tell us that for every month that is wasted deliberating on this action, over one million wild animals are dying slow and gruesome deaths from lead poisoning — including bald eagles — our national symbol. All it takes to stop that carnage is swapping out lead ammunition and lead fishing gear for the myriad of available non-toxic alternatives,” said Schroeder.
Lead is an extremely toxic substance that is dangerous to people and wildlife, even at low levels. Exposure can cause a range of health effects, from acute poisoning and death to long-term problems such as reduced reproduction, inhibition of growth, and damage to neurological development.
Animals are poisoned when they scavenge on carcasses shot and contaminated with lead bullet fragments, or pick up and eat spent lead-shot pellets or lost fishing weights, mistaking them for food or grit. Some animals die a painful death from lead poisoning while others suffer for years from its debilitating effects.
BLAIR COUNTY’S TREASURED TRAIL A FRAGILE PLACE
Centre Daily Times article by Dr. Stan Kotala in September 5, 2010 edition
Fall is a great time to observe wildlife and there are few places that offer better opportunities to do that than the Lower Trail, a 17-mile Rails-to-Trails route along the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River between Flowing Springs in Blair County and the village of Alfarata, Huntingdon County.
Enjoyed by more than 100,000 people annually, the 18-mile Lower Trail is one of Blair County’s major recreation assets. The trail was recently named a US National Recreation Trail. The Lower Trail is open to the public, free of charge, for hiking, jogging, bicycling, horseback riding, birdwatching, cross-country skiing and other non-motorized recreation. The trail also provides access to the river for fishing, kayaking and canoeing.
The Lower Trail runs through an outstanding example of a Ridge and Valley riparian forest. The combination of steep, wooded slopes, floodplain forests and high soil moisture produces a diverse, healthy lowland riparian ecosystem. The northern portion of the trail runs through a narrow gorge with a low ridge to the west and the high ridge-line of Tussey Mountain, up to 1,500 feet above the river to the east. There is little human disturbance there other than the trail. To the south, the river meanders through mostly forested riparian habitat that contains some agriculture and sparse human settlements.
Access to the trail is easy and you have many access points from which to choose — from downstream, they are Alfarata, Mt. Etna, Cove Dale/Carlim, Williamsburg, Grannas Station and Flowing Springs. All the trailheads have ample parking facilities. Picnic tables, pavilions and toilets can be found at the Alfarata, Mt. Etna, Williamsburg, and Flowing Springs trailheads. The trail is 8 feet wide and has a hard surface of crushed limestone, perfect for bicycles, even those with skinny tires. Wide, grassy berms alongside the trail accommodate horseback riders. Being an old railroad grade, the trail is flat with a minimal grade as you make your way upstream, with mile markers posted at each mile. The trail is open year round, free of charge, and is well-maintained by volunteers of Rails-to-Trails.
This site was identified as an Important Bird Area by the Ornithological Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey in October 2001. Juniata Valley Audubon has officially adopted this site for the purpose of stewardship and bird monitoring. More than 150 species of birds have been observed along the Lower Trail since Juniata Valley Audubon began a Special Areas Project there in 1995.
Immediately adjacent to the trail near Covedale/Carlim is the Heller Caves Biological Diversity Area. The Heller Caves serve as hibernacula for eastern small-footed bats, a threatened species in Pennsylvania and a “priority species” in the Commonwealth’s Wildlife Action Plan.
Sadly, a proposed 135 acre limestone quarry adjacent to the Lower Trail in the Covedale area would have a severe adverse impact on the trail and its users, local residents, the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River IBA, and the Heller Caves BDA.
Catharine Properties, which owns approximately 200 acres fronting the trail for close to a mile, is proposing to develop a limestone quarry next to the trail, with its attendant blasting, bulldozing, heavy truck traffic, dust and noise. The BDA and a portion of the IBA are part of the proposed mine.
According to the Blair County Natural Heritage Inventory done under the direction of the Blair County Planning Commission from 2001-2006, the Heller Caves BDA can be destroyed by adjacent blasting or other earth-moving activities that disrupt bedrock. In addition, the Inventory states that reduction of forest cover would reduce habitat area for roosting and feeding needed by these bats. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, “forested areas with caves, mines, rock outcrops or talus provide key summer habitat” for small-footed bats. The Blair County Natural Heritage Inventory goes on to state, “Blasting and other activities that will affect the bedrock should be avoided within this area so as not to damage the cave being used as a hibernation site” and “maintaining and cultivating forest cover will increase the amount of available habitat for bats.”
It’s important for people to protect special places from destruction and degradation. To many, the Lower Trail is such a place. Fifteen organizations ranging from the Mid State Trail Association to the State College Bird Club to the Moshannon Group of the Sierra Club have come out in opposition to this destructive project. Enjoy the trail and support the groups that are fighting to save it.
RESIDENTS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS RAISE CONCERNS OVER REOPENING LIMESTONE QUARRY
Altoona Mirror article by Wendy Zook in July 25, 2010 edition
A proposed limestone quarry operation in Catharine Township is causing a big stir in this small-town area.
The project, by Pittsburgh-based Gulf Trading & Transport LLC, would be on 200 acres used as a quarry more than eight decades ago. The tract borders part of the Juniata River and Rails to Trails' Lower Trail along one of its most serene spots, although the company has agreed not to operate within 300 feet of trail borders.
Nine environmental groups ranging from the Juniata Valley Audubon Society and Little Juniata River Association to the local chapter of the National Speleological Society and Pennsylvania Native Plant Society are opposing the project, calling it a threat to animals and the natural flora and fauna of the area.
Neighbors are concerned about increased noise and dust, harm to their water and a disruption along the quiet country roads of the township. More than 600 names have been added so far to a petition being circulated by Mick and Holly Tekely, who have lived near the property for about five years.
Gulf owner Clifford Wise said he understands the concerns but says his 5-year-old company wants to be a long-term, good neighbor.
"Nobody's going to destroy anything," Wise said.
The quarry will be reclaimed, the area cleaned up and part of it preserved as farmland or a recreational area, Wise said. He said about 135 of the 200 acres will be used for mining.
The best part, he added, is that more than 40 people, most of them local, will be employed by the quarry operations.
Protecting the environment
At a special meeting Tuesday, Rails to Trails of Central Pennsylvania board members decided to not necessarily object to the quarry project, but to an environmental assessment done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year.
According to the assessment, a "few single residential buildings exist adjacent to or within 1,000 feet of the project area that will not be directly affected" but indirect effects may include changes to scenery and possible low level noise.
"We're opposing the quarry only on pretense that the environmental assessment is not complete," President Jennifer Barefoot said. "There was a lot of inaccuracies."
For example, Barefoot said the environmental assessment made it seem as though the property has been in continuous mining operations over the past 80 years.
Gulf employee Jack Halpern said the quarry last operated in 1927 by subsidiaries of Bethlehem Mining. At that time, the process of making steel was changed, and the particular limestone from that quarry wasn't needed anymore. There were about 300 employees at the site then as well as a quarry town at the time called Carlim, Halpern said.
Barefoot also objected to Rails to Trails not being afforded the opportunity to be part of the assessment process.
Korah Abraham, USDA Rural Development State Environmental coordinator, said the typical process includes conferring with federal and state agencies as well as the local and county governments to prepare the document.
Then, organizations and concerned citizens have the opportunity to raise concerns, all of which will be looked at in depth, Abraham said.
"We do have a number of comments from the groups like the Rails to Trails and some of the individual homeowners, which happens on some of the projects we do," he said. "We need to look at all of them and see how relevant they are to the project. We want to make sure that we study everything properly and find out how we can address that. It's going to take some time."
The USDA often does studies like this for projects that may affect a large area or large number of people and organizations, Abraham said. The USDA gave the project a $5.4 million loan in May to help pay the cost of equipment and operations, which meant the assessment was required.
Wise said the company has dotted every "I" and crossed every "T," undergoing studies for rare species such as the Indiana brown bat and its designated areas of hibernation and habitat.
"To the best of my knowledge, we've done everything that the state ... has asked us to do," Wise said.
The Huntingdon County Cave Hunters contends the environmental assessment has ignored the destruction of the small-footed bat and the springtail in the area. The small-footed bat is one of the species that inhabit nearby Heller Caves, near the Lower Trail.
"We question the validity of the USDA Environmental Assessment," the group said in a press release. "We are unconditionally opposed to the issuance of any mining permit and the damage to the environment that would follow."
Stan Kotala, Juniata Valley Audubon Society conservation chairman, said he doesn't see the project reaching fruition.
"There's a lot of very angry people," Kotala said. "There's just too much opposition."
He said residents are asking township supervisors to adopt an ordinance mandating a quarter-mile distance between the project and the trail and the caves.
Troubling traffic
A township road, Overlook Drive, and two state routes, Fox Run Road and Yellow Springs Drive, will likely be used by large trucks carrying limestone to power plants for a scrubbing process to remove sulfur from emissions.
The limestone will stay on the East Coast, predominantly within Pennsylvania, Wise said. Two contracts are in place with PSEG's Keystone Generation Station in Shelocta and the Conemaugh Generating Station in New Florence.
Wise said cement companies in areas such as Allentown often buy limestone from central Pennsylvania to mix into their cement powder to create a brighter, stronger concrete.
The product could also be used for driveways and road projects, Wise said, noting a maximum of 240,000 tons will be transported from the quarry each year.
"Whatever we do, it's done in a right way," Wise said.
Mick Tekely, using figures from other mine company transportation statistics, estimated that more than 300 trucks a day could be traveling the two-lane Overlook Drive.
"Now, you see maybe a tractor once in a while," he said. "You don't see too much traffic at all. It's going to be a mess with the road."
Wise said the estimate of 300 trucks a day would send more than 190,000 tons out of the quarry a month, far exceeding the company's plans.
"It's not made for that kind of traffic," neighbor Gloria Sweeney, who has lived in the area almost 30 years, said of Overlook Drive. "That's going to be a dangerous situation now on that road."
Catharine Township Secretary Kara Deters said the township hasn't discussed the roads in question. That topic will probably get more discussion at the next township meeting Aug. 2.
She noted the township office has been overwhelmed by comments and questions from area residents after an informative meeting with the company earlier this month brought out 60 concerned people.
"They're worried about the sereneness of the area," Deters said of comments received by the township.
"We would like to see everything worked out and concerns answered," she said, adding that township solicitor Allen E. Gibboney was looking into current ordinances to see what regulation the township might have. "The only control or say that we will have in it will be outlined in our ordinances if something comes up. If it's not outlined, I'm not sure Catharine Township has a say over certain things."
PennDOT officials said that signs noting a 10-ton weight limit were going up this week along Fox Run Road and Yellow Springs Drive but no other plans were in place for dealing with the quarry operations.
Peace and quiet
Some of the company's future neighbors still aren't convinced.
"We bought [our property] for the peace and quiet and for the trail," Mick Tekely said. "Now it's going to change."
He said he's happy for the jobs the project may bring but thinks that the major issue is location.
"This is not a good place for this project," he said, pondering the impact of blasting and truck traffic. "All I see is lose, lose, lose across the board for us."
Sweeney agrees.
"We're not happy to have it coming," Sweeney said. "I don't know if there's any way to stop it or not. This is a nice area, and we just don't need it. It's nice and quiet here, and it's going to be industrial soon."
Along with neighbors' concerns, those who use the Lower Trail also have spoken out. Larry Hart of Duncansville averages about 4,000 miles a year riding his bike on the trail.
"It would be a major change down here in that area," Hart said. "There would be a lot of noise and a lot of everything else. It's just very peaceful. You're going to lose part of that."
The company has been approved for a small non-coal operating permit from the Department of Environmental Protection, which means it can proceed with building internal roads, piping over streams to provide access for workers and building a truck wash and pond as well as cleaning up much of the area before winter weather sets in.
It is still waiting for DEP approval of a large operations application, which would allow for the actual mining of the stone.
"None of those things should interfere with anybody or anything," Wise said. "I don't even know how it can."
Dust shouldn't be a huge issue either, Wise said, because of the standard business use of dust suppressants - water sprays similar to a street sweeper function that keeps the amount of dust produced from blasting way down.
"You don't just go out there and create these huge dust plumes," he said.
Looking to future
Locals also say the proposed project would be a disservice to the more than 100,000 annual visitors to the Lower Trail.
"It's a beautiful trail, and there's so many people who use it," Sweeney said.
Wise said his firm's first acts will be to improve the area, cleaning up piles of rubble that have been along the trail for 50 or 60 years as well as grading portions of the area to make for a better experience.
"We're not mining next to the trail," he said. "Nobody in their right mind would do that. We're not going to interfere with the trail at all."
He took issue with what he called "misinformation" concerning early test drillings allegedly causing a rockslide along the trail.
He denied that allegation, saying if people remained open-minded they might find the company is after what's best for the area, including dozens of good-paying jobs for equipment operators, administrative personnel, transportation workers and stone preparation employees.
"There's at least 50 million tons of stone on the property," Wise said. "I think we'll be there at least 75 years, maybe more. Will we be good stewards of the environment there? The answer is 100 percent. We're going to be there, too."
Hart said he will continue coming to the trail for his daily bike ride, cross-country skiing adventure, walk or fishing outing.
Deters said patience is key throughout the process.
"It's a small township and it's usually fairly quiet," she said. "I think things are being handled well at the moment. It's important to not jump the gun on anything and to just take everything into account and look at all of the sides."
Return to topOutline of JVAS testimony regarding proposed Catharine Township quarry
Return to topMessage from the new JVAS president
Return to top“WORKING WOODLANDS” — THE NATURE CONSERVANCY'S
PA. FOREST CONSERVATION PROGRAM
How it works; landowner benefits
Frequently asked questions
Return to top
Drill, Baby, Drill! — The inside story of Gov. Ed Rendell's plot to pillage Pennsylvania's forests, consequences be damned. By Isaiah Thompson.
Return to topGAS TAX MAKES SENSE
Editorial in January 18, 2010 edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The windfall from leasing state forests to natural gas drillers demonstrates that it's time for Pennsylvania to tax producers in this lucrative energy boom.
At an auction last week, energy companies bid an average of $4,020 an acre for the rights to drill on 32,000 acres of state forest in north-central Pennsylvania. It earned the state $128.5 million, more than twice the amount called for by legislators.
Just more than a year ago, a similar auction brought average bids of $2,000 per acre. That shows how attractive the state's Marcellus Shale gas deposits are to drillers.
Further proof is that Exxon Mobil last month purchased XTO Energy, a Texas gas producer with large holdings in the Marcellus Shale, for $41 billion. (Ominously, the deal allows Exxon to back out if Congress imposes "impracticable" regulations on the drilling technique, called hydraulic fracturing, which pumps a secret mix of chemicals into the ground. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) has proposed sensible legislation that would essentially require drillers to abide by the Safe Drinking Water Act.)
Given the clamor by the oil and gas industry to get at Pennsylvania's fields, Gov. Rendell is right to renew his call for a production tax on natural gas wells. He tried to implement this tax last year, but shelved the idea when Senate Republicans resisted during the lengthy budget fight.
The industry has argued that imposing a production tax would discourage energy companies from drilling in Pennsylvania. But the money flowing in this game shows that argument is no longer valid, if it ever was. More than 800 Marcellus wells are now operating in Pennsylvania, with many more expected this year. The boom is on.
In spite of this new gold rush and in spite of the state's budget woes, many Republicans in the legislature still oppose a tax on gas production. Some of them argue that drillers are already paying royalties and other taxes, as if that doesn't happen in other gas-producing states. It does.
Oklahoma taxes oil and gas production, and also imposes a petroleum excise tax. Texas taxes oil and gas production, as well as levying an oil field cleanup fee. West Virginia and Ohio charge severance taxes. Nearly every state with significant oil and gas deposits imposes these taxes.
And the revenue for those states has been significant. In 2007, New Mexico raised $843 million from severance taxes. Oklahoma received $942 million. West Virginia took in $328 million.
By not instituting this tax, opponents are asking ordinary taxpayers to pay a greater share of the bill for state services, while allowing gas producers who are extracting the state's natural resources to pay less than their fair share. It makes no sense.
A production tax also makes better sense than raising money through an unlimited leasing of state forests. About one-third of Pennsylvania's 2.1 million acres of state forest is now open to oil and gas development.
The state needs to take a careful look before leasing more of this precious resource. Conservation policy must not depend simply on how much money can be raised in an auction for drillers.
FOREST ROADS FACILITATE SPREAD OF INVASIVE PLANTS
Penn State Live newsletter — December 10, 2009
Invasive plants are advancing into eastern forests at an alarming rate, and the rapid spread has been linked by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences to forest road maintenance and the type of dirt and stone used on roads.
Perhaps predictably, according to David Mortensen, a professor of weed ecology who has been studying the spread of invasive plants for nearly two decades, humans are unwittingly accelerating the relentless march of invasives into even isolated forests. The findings are especially significant in the face of massive forest road-building efforts expected to support greatly expanded natural-gas drilling operations into the Marcellus shale formation. Hundreds or even thousands of gas wells could be established in eastern forests in the next few years, depending on the market price of gas.
In a paper titled “Forest Roads Facilitate the Spread of Invasive Plants,” published in the August 2009 issue of Invasive Plant Science and Management, Mortensen detailed some eye-opening revelations about the process by which invasive plants advance so quickly.
“Roads can play a profound role in the spread and growth of invasive species by serving as corridors for movement and by providing prime habitat for establishment,” Mortensen explained. “For example, forest managers have reported that the borders of hundreds of miles of forest roads have been invaded by Japanese stiltgrass in a period of less than 10 years.&rquo;
As part of his research, Mortensen — who was assisted by post-doctoral researcher Emily Rauschert and doctoral candidate Andrea Nord — performed a large-scale survey of the presence and abundance of 13 invasive plants and found that the most abundant species, Microstegium (Japanese stiltgrass) is strongly associated with proximity to roads. He then focused his attention on trying to determine the reasons and devise a strategy to slow the spread.
The researchers discovered, to their amazement, that Japanese stiltgrass on its own does not spread quickly. To better understand why the invasive plant is achieving such a high rate of spread in eastern forests, they deliberately introduced Microstegium patches in a forested site similar to the one in which the survey was conducted and allowed patches to naturally expand over four years before controlling all patches.
“Through this multi-year study, we found the natural spread rate was surprisingly slow, several orders of magnitude slower than that observed by the forest managers we work with,” Mortensen said. “We also found that spread was greatest in habitats adjacent to forest roads.
“It is clear that the rates of spread occurring in forests throughout the study region are aided by management practices such as road grading, which is employed frequently to maintain the dirt and gravel roads.”
Japanese stiltgrass seed becomes mixed with the dirt and gravel and then is carried along as graders push the crushed stone to fill holes and smooth road surfaces. Mortensen also suspects invasive plant seeds may be picked up and transported by equipment, so he suggests spread could be limited by carefully cleaning the undersides of construction vehicles and other machines before they travel from one road job to another.
“Management of this troublesome invasive can be enhanced with a multifaceted, integrated approach,” he said. “Particular attention should be paid to infestations that serve as sources for seed dispersal into uninvaded or environmentally sensitive areas. The primary vectors of long-distance dispersal, such as road maintenance activities or vehicle traffic, should be identified and mitigating steps taken. Finally, it is important to minimize road-edge disturbance to the extent possible, as such disturbance provides an ideal seedbed for the newly dispersed Microstegium seed.”
Perhaps the most startling finding of Mortensen's research relates to the nature of dirt and gravel on forest roads that enables invasive plants such as Japanese stiltgrass to thrive.
“The crushed limestone used to surface many forest roads and to line culverts and drains along those roads are creating ideal conditions for the invasives to spread rapidly,” he said. “The high alkalinity sediment from the stone, mixed with water running off the roads during storms, eventually spills out into the forests, carrying invasive plant seeds and creating areas for them to grow quickly. The high alkalinity prevents native plants that have become adapted to acidic forest soils from growing, and invasives such as Japanese stiltgrass fill the void.”
Ironically, the crushed limestone is being used on many forest roads and in ditches and drains that parallel mountain streams precisely because the material leaches a high-alkalinity slurry that improves the productivity and water chemistry of the streams. That benefits the wild trout and other aquatic organisms that have suffered in many mountain streams after decades of acidic atmospheric deposition (acid rain).
“That only complicates the battle against the spread of invasive plants into eastern forests and shows the interconnected nature of ecosystems,” Mortensen said. “But measures need to be taken to slow the spread of invasive plants such as Microstegium, because over the long run they will change the nature of our plant communities by outcompeting native plants.”
Return to topIT’S GETTING HARDER TO SEE PA’S ONCE VAST FOREST THROUGH THEIR FRAGMENTS
By Rona Kobell, Bay Journal, December 2009, newsletter of the
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
When an early Pennsylvania settler clawed his way through the woods to the top of a hill, he found disappointment. The view, he said, "is nothing but an undulating surface of impenetrable forest."
Penn's Woods was aptly named. When colonists arrived in the 1600s, it was 98 percent forest, causing another settler to declare that it "was not a land of prospects. There is too much wood."
Few complained over the next 200 years as the state's trees "came down like tall grass before a giant scythe," as a contemporary observer put it. By the time botanist Joseph Rothrock traveled through the northern tier in the late 1800s, he called it the "Pennsylvania desert."
Rothrock led a campaign to restore the state's forests. In 1895, he was named Pennsylvania's first commissioner of forestry. His program flourished. Over the next century, Pennsylvania's state forests grew to cover more than 2.1 million acres-one of the largest expanses of public forestland in the East, and one of the nation's most respected forestry programs.
For the last 11 years the independent Forest Stewardship Council certified that Pennsylvania's forests met or exceeded standards to maintain the sustainability of the woodlands. But they have added a caveat-they asked the state to study the long-term effects of the rapidly increasing gas drilling within the big woods.
Today, more than a million acres of the state's prized forestland sit on top of the Marcellus Shale-the gas-rich rock that's prompted a rush to drill in the Keystone State. Already, the state has leased more than 600,000 acres of its forestland for drilling and recently decided to open 200,000 more acres with the hope of raising $60 million to support its recession-strapped budget.
Gas company officials maintain they've been drilling in the forests for decades, with few problems. But legislators and biologists worry about the scale of the current boom.
"God isn't making any more land. He quit that a long time ago," said Rep. David K. Levdansky, a Democrat and chairman of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' Finance Committee as well as an avid outdoorsman. "We ought to be very cautious about doing this."
What happens in the vast state forests between Interstate 80 and the New York border-places such as Tioga, Loyalsock and Tiadaghton, as well as the private forests nearby-is also of concern to the Chesapeake Bay, 200 miles downstream. According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Conservation Fund, the Bay watershed loses 100 acres of forests a day, and is likely to lose nearly 10 million acres by 2030.
That's of great concern, because forests have long been considered the best land use to protect the Bay. They absorb nitrogen, slow erosion, provide crucial fish and bird habitat and promote biodiversity.
The rush for gas has the potential to accelerate those losses and break up increasingly rare, large, unbroken blocks of forest. Each drill site requires at least five acres for a well pad, and miles of roads and pipelines that fragment the big woods.
"There's no doubt this is going to have an impact on interior-dwelling species," said Jerry Hassinger, a retired biologist from the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Fragmentation paves the way for invasive species and Hassinger fears that even if the gas companies do reclamation, the trees and grass they plant will be no match for the wily intruders that could hinder any forest recovery.
The affected area could extend up to 300 meters from the disturbance site, said Kim Van Fleet, a biologist with the Pennsylvania Audubon Society. This phenomenon is called the "edge effect." Because everything in an ecosystem interconnects, changes in sunlight, wind and vapor pressure brought about by cutting clearings have far-reaching consequences.
Van Fleet is worried about the scarlet tanager-17 percent of that songbird's breeding population lives in Pennsylvania forests. Cerulean warblers, wood thrush, ovenbirds, and forest raptors also top her list of affected birds.
"If there is fragmentation nearby, it will affect these birds," Van Fleet said, noting that they all require large forest tracts to thrive.
Matt Royer, a lawyer for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, was concerned enough with the pace of drilling permit approvals in the Tioga Forest that he filed a legal challenge. By the time he won it, the earth had already been disturbed.
"What's it going to look like, in two or three years, when you do an aerial flyover of northeastern Pennsylvania, and it's sliced and diced with all these well pads and compressor stations, a contiguous forest area that doesn't have a contiguous forest anymore?" he asked.
Van Fleet and others point to lessons learned in the Allegheny National Forest in northwest Pennsylvania, where gas companies have been drilling shallow wells for decades, and where, the U.S. Forest Service reports, several species have lost habitat to gas drilling.
Ryan Talbott, executive director of the Allegheny Defense Project, said gas companies once drilled a few dozen shallow wells a year. In 2007, they drilled more than 1,200 wells. Today, more than 2,000 miles of roads support the gas industry. Talbott says he sees fewer cerulean warblers, northern goshawks, turtles and rattlesnakes, and more invasive plants.
"It was literally like watching a national forest be transformed in a couple of years," Talbott said.
Last year, Talbott's group sued the Forest Service for trying to open Pennsylvania's only national forest to more than 1,000 new wells without following the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires both public input and government reviews. In April, the Forest Service agreed to delay some drilling until it conducted a full environmental review with public comment.
Rep. Edward G. Staback, a Democrat and chairman of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' Game and Fisheries Committee, opposed opening more forests to drilling and instead pushed for a gas tax to raise money. He lost.
But, Staback said he'll be watching the forests closely.
"Our concern is that the gas companies not walk away from their responsibilities the way the coal barons did years ago. They left land filled with slag piles. We're still paying the price for that today," he said. "We want to be absolutely, positively, sure that there's no way that happens again.
Return to topHOW MARCELLUS SHALE GAS CAME TO BE
TAX-EXEMPT IN PENNSYLVANIA
Desperate for revenue, Gov. Rendell chose not to tax the “gold rush.”
By Mario F. Cattabiani and Amy Worden, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writers
— Posted Oct. 25, 2009 —
All through Pennsylvania's 101-day budget impasse, Gov. Rendell spoke of pain.
A recession-weary state had to tighten its belt. Revenues had to rise — income tax, sales tax, new taxes on whole industries. "We can't get this budget resolved," Rendell said, "without everyone feeling some pain."
But when the budget was finally signed Oct. 9, one industry came away pain-free.
The natural-gas industry's leaders and lobbyists beat back Rendell's proposal to tax gas as it is pulled to the surface from the rich black-rock reservoir known as the Marcellus Shale.
So, as drilling rigs are sprouting in the state's northern tier and southwestern corner, the gas those rigs are extracting still isn't taxed. That makes Pennsylvania unique among the 15 states that produce the most natural gas.
What's more, the industry persuaded Harrisburg to lease more public land to gas drillers — even as the state's budget for environmental protection was being sharply cut.
What happened to Rendell's gas-tax proposal?
He says the industry made good arguments for staving it off. He did not want to slow the "gold rush," as he called it, of jobs and commerce the drillers would bring.
One legislator came away with a more cynical view.
"The same old influential interest groups getting their way," said State Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware). "It was just another day in Harrisburg."
What follows is a closer look at some key moments in the short life of Rendell's proposal to help balance the budget by taxing natural gas.
Tapping "the gold rush." As Rendell prepared his Feb. 4 budget address, a boom was under way. Natural-gas industry representatives were fanning out across the state, securing leases and drilling wells at twice last year's pace.
Rendell, a policy wonk, did his homework. He spoke with Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a state that also sits atop the Marcellus Shale and has taxed natural gas for years.
In his budget address, Rendell proposed to tax gas extracted in Pennsylvania.
Rendell said Manchin, a fellow Democrat, had assured him that West Virginia's tax did not "inhibit gas extraction and that it is continuing at a record pace, and it's reaping critically needed revenues so the state can provide services to its citizens."
Rendell's plan matched West Virginia's — a 5 percent tax on the value of natural gas at the wellhead, plus 4.7 cents per 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas extracted.
By Rendell's estimates, such a tax could raise $107 million for Pennsylvania in its first year, helping fill a billion-dollar budget gap.
In a recent interview, Manchin described what he said to Rendell months ago.
"The Marcellus Shale is a tremendous producer. A severance tax will not deter" the drillers, Manchin said. "Believe me, if we didn't have the gas, they wouldn't be here."
Manchin said he had faced industry complaints in 2005 when he proposed to expand the tax, with some companies threatening to leave.
He offered to have the state buy up their leases "so you don't lose one penny." No one took him up on his offer.
Skin in the game. By spring, Rendell's tax proposal was the talk of the industry. In a June 1 panel discussion held by a New York investment firm, four executives spoke of what might happen next in Pennsylvania.
They talked of the Marcellus "play" — industry parlance for a focused drilling campaign. Rich Weber, president and chief operating officer of Atlas Energy Resources of Pittsburgh, pooh-poohed Rendell's tax proposal.
"I think the shot over the bow from the governor was just that. He wanted to spark discussion," Weber said, according to a published transcript. "I think the legislature is going to kill it for this year. It may be inevitable down the road but who knows."
Jim Fraser, senior vice president of Talisman Energy Inc. in Calgary, Alberta, did some math. "We have encouraged the state to lease some more of that land," he said, adding that his "back of an envelope" figures showed the state could raise more money by leasing land to drillers than by taxing the gas.
Chad Stephens, senior vice president of Range Resources Corp. of Texas, weighed the pros and cons.
"Maybe at some point in the far-out future if they introduce a severance tax, once the play gets some legs, that's a different story," he said. "But if they do implement the tax, at least the government will have some skin in the game." State officials might become "more cooperative and try to help the play along."
Murry S. Gerber, chairman and chief executive officer of EQT Corp., spoke next.
"Chad said it right. Skin in the game," Gerber said. "The local governments need to get some of this money back. I mean, we are on their roads."
But the state had to be flexible, he said. "If it's all take and no give . . . we should just say no as long as we can."
The meeting. Four days later, Gerber sat with his aides and state officials in his company's sixth-floor conference room in Pittsburgh. His guests included Rendell.
Gerber knew the governor well. He'd donated $30,000 to Rendell's 2006 reelection fund, records show. Last October, Rendell went to Pittsburgh with a check of his own — $2.8 million in state grants and tax credits to help Gerber's company expand operations and add 354 jobs.
Gerber requested the June 5 meeting. He hoped to convince Rendell that the state should consider all the various natural-gas issues — wastewater treatment, leasing royalties — and not just a tax, said Kevin West, managing director of external affairs and one of four EQT executives at the meeting.
Gerber did most of the talking. Rendell asked questions. "You could see the governor turning a little bit" to Gerber's pitch, West said last week.
Rendell did not say he would abandon the tax. At the meeting's end, he said he would create a task force of stakeholders — legislators, environmental officials, industry executives — to examine Marcellus Shale issues.
"We were very pleased with that," said West. "We felt he adopted our position."
The study. As the summer rolled on and the budget impasse deepened, the industry made its case in Harrisburg, spending more than $1 million to lobby legislators in the first half of the year alone, state reports showed.
Foes of the gas tax began citing a Pennsylvania State University study, "An Emerging Giant: Prospects and Economic Impacts of Developing the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Play."
The study said the tax would backfire.
Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania was in "the takeoff phase," the study said. It concluded that a severance tax would decrease revenue by reducing drilling and slowing job growth.
Without the tax, the study said, the Marcellus reserve could become a bonanza for the state "if pro-growth policies are pursued that unleash the entrepreneurial spirit."
The study's primary author, Robert Watson, said Friday that the shale contains enough gas to make Pennsylvania "an OPEC nation."
Watson, an emeritus professor of petroleum and natural-gas engineering, also acknowledged that the industry had funded the study.
The Marcellus Shale Committee, a group of more than 50 natural-gas and drilling companies, commissioned the study and paid Penn State about $100,000 for it, he said.
But one version of the study that circulated in Harrisburg did not mention the funding source. Subsequent copies did. Watson said the omission had been simply a mistake made in his rush to publish.
Pennsylvania's environmental community lashed out at the study as a tool of a deep-pocketed industry. Even the state's top conservation official questioned its findings.
At a Marcellus Shale seminar in August, the acting secretary of conservation and natural resources, John Quigley, rose to introduce Watson. Quigley also told the audience — a citizens' advisory panel on environmental policy — that Watson's study was unsubstantiated by facts.
That prompted Watson to stand up and yell, twice, "That's bull–."
Quigley remembers the meeting. "I pointed out that the study was paid for by the industry, and that any suggestion that a severance tax would strangle the infant industry in its crib strains credulity," he said Friday.
Watson stands by his findings. "The procedure we used was scientific," he said. "We would have come up with the same answers regardless of who paid for it."
The surprise. Until August, there was no change in Rendell's public stance. He wanted the tax.
But in a briefing for reporters Aug. 31, the governor said, "It won't be in the mix this year."
Rendell said industry executives had convinced him that imposing a tax now would stunt drilling. Also, he said a drop in the price of natural gas made the tax impractical. And Senate Republicans were so opposed to the tax that it would not pass.
It would have to wait until next year, Rendell said.
"We felt we should let the industry get off to a good start," he said, "and that surpasses our need for money."
His change of position was news to many — including Steve Crawford, Rendell's chief of staff. "The governor's press conferences are always newsworthy," Crawford said last week, "and sometimes they are even newsworthy to those of us closest to him."
His switch also surprised his party's lea ders in the legislature, who made a last-ditch effort to revive the tax before the budget was signed.
Rendell declined requests for an interview for this article, but he authorized aides to describe several meetings he had with industry officials.
Gary Tuma, Rendell's press secretary, said the governor had changed his mind on the tax in July, but had not told aides at that time.
As for the Marcellus Shale task force that Rendell told Gerber he'd create: The governor abandoned the idea because he'd decided to nix the tax for this year, Tuma said.
The tax fight is over for now. But the industry is still stockpiling resources for future contact with Pennsylvania officeholders.
Range Resources, the Texas driller, recently hired away a top Rendell aide to be its vice president for government relations and regulatory affairs. K. Scott Roy had been Rendell's executive deputy chief of staff and his liaison to the natural-gas industry and environmental groups.
Range Resources also hosted a luncheon this month near Pittsburgh for legislators from both parties. After sandwiches, the dozen legislators toured a drilling site.
Among those at the lunch was State Rep. Timothy J. Solobay (D., Washington), an unabashed natural-gas cheerleader. He's seen drillers transform his district. Steamfitters and welders are getting work. Job-training and truck-driving classes are full.
Natural gas "is the new steel," said Solobay. "They all told me is that severance [tax] is coming," he said of industry executives. "They are only asking for a couple of years to get the infrastructure in place."
State Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre) has seen drill rigs rising in his district, too. Eventually, Corman said, a tax could help towns defray the related costs. "I think a day will come when there's a severance tax," he said. "I just didn't think that day was today."
Others are less sanguine. "This was the best time to do it," State Rep. David K. Levdansky (D., Allegheny) said of the tax. Next year, he said, "the industry will just dig in their heels even harder in hopes that a Republican governor more sympathetic to their cause wins election."
In June, Range Resources launched a political action committee in Pennsylvania. Nine executives put in a total of $49,500. The PAC's first donation, for $5,000, went to a Republican campaign fund begun by state Attorney General Tom Corbett.
He's running for governor next year.
Return to topThe investment bank RBC Capital Markets invited institutional investors and corporate executives to a conference on global energy in June. A transcript of the event shows several industry executives discussing, among other issues, Gov. Rendell's February proposal to tax natural-gas extraction. To read the transcript, go to...
http://go.philly.com/marcellus2