As natural gas extraction expands across the Central Appalachian region, that industrial-scale energy development is encroaching on public lands that are critically important for fishing and hunting. In this report, Trout Unlimited takes a deeper look into those public places, outlining the potential risks posed by gas drilling operations and providing recommendations from sportsmen and women that promote responsible energy development.
Laurel Highlands
The Place
Crowned by three ridges along southwestern Pennsylvania’s skyline, the Laurel Highlands is home to eight of the state’s 10 highest summits, including the highest, Mt. Davis, at 3,200 feet above sea level. From mountain laurel thickets, cool headwaters percolate through more than 200 square miles of mostly state parks and forest lands. Class A Wild Trout Streams, such as Camp Run and Laurel Run and dozens of other popular fisheries, form the Laurel Highlands Trout Trail, a 70-mile region attracting anglers from nearby Pittsburgh and neighboring states to fish for trout and take in the scenery.
The hunting heritage runs deep in the Laurel Highlands region. With an ample supply of public hunting grounds, including more than 138,000 acres of state forest and parks, and more than 25,000 acres of state game lands, the Laurel Highlands provide ample deer, bear, turkey, ruffed grouse and small-game hunting opportunities.
The Threat
Natural resource extraction is not new to the Laurel Highlands. Coal mining’s legacy lingers. After decades of restoration work by anglers and conservation groups, many of the region’s streams are on the road to recovery from pollution caused by coal mining. Today, the energy industry is seeking to develop gas resources that lie beneath some of the few remaining public hunting and fishing lands in southwest Pennsylvania — premier recreation areas for hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. Ohiopyle State Park, Forbes State Forest and other state parks, forests and game lands within the Laurel Highlands region sit atop some of southwest Pennsylvania’s more productive shale gas areas.
Well pad construction, gas transportation lines and access roads will require additional land disturbances, much of which is expected to occur in the intact forest stands and the very areas where stream restoration efforts have taken place to correct the damage caused by previous resource extraction. Among the many impacts of shale gas drilling on Pennsylvania’s streams, impacts from road sedimentation is often the most pronounced in steep terrain, such as the Laurel Highlands.
The Need to Protect
Pennsylvania sportsmen and women are calling on the state to ensure that shale gas development in the Laurel Highlands does not harm fish and game resources. In order to protect these resources, hunters and anglers are urging that additional surface drilling on public lands, where the subsurface mineral rights are owned by the state, be prohibited.
On lands where subsurface mineral rights are owned by private interests, well pad locations, pipelines and road construction should be avoided on high-slope areas and stream crossings should be limited. Careful planning must be required to limit the amount of forest land converted for well pads and associated infrastructure and the total miles of roads that are constructed.
SPORTSMEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The only thing I’ve ever asked anyone to do in my volunteer and personal endeavors in conservation is to do it the right way. We have a personal stake in our future. Len Lichvar, Mountain Laurel Chapter, member of local sportsmen club
