Fracking to be permitted in GW National Forest

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Fracking to be permitted in GW National Forest
By BROCK VERGAKIS, Associated Press | November 17, 2014 | Updated: November 17, 2014 11:13pm

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Over the objection of environmental groups and Virginia's governor, a federal management plan released Tuesday will allow a form of natural gas drilling known as fracking to occur in parts of the largest national forest on the East Coast.

The U.S. Forest Service originally planned to ban fracking in the 1.1 million-acre George Washington National Forest, but energy companies cried foul after a draft of the plan was released in 2011. It would have been the first outright ban on the practice in a national forest.

"We think we've ended up in a much better place, which is we are allowing oil and gas drilling," Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for natural resources and environment, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"From a policy perspective, the Forest Service allows fracking on forest lands throughout the country. We didn't want to make a policy decision or change policy related to fracking. This decision is about where it's appropriate to do oil and gas leasing."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Fracking-to-be-permitted-in-GW-National-Forest-5899909.php

[newfie11]

1. Horrible horrible horrible

I've hiked in that forest and it was beautiful!
Do we have to destroy everything!!!

[Purrfessor]

17. We are consumers. We consume. So, in a word, yes. Even ourselves, unfortunately.

[newfie11]

20. There are better ways than fracking

Germany is proof!

[Earth_First]

2. Situations as these really ought to be offered up as a referendum to the electorate.

Federal lands belong to everyone, not a select few industry representatives and their lobbyists with their direct access to Congress.

They know that otherwise, they'd be thrown out in their asses...

[duhneece]

18. Not according to our Otero County Commissioners

Check out numbers 44 and 45 in this lawsuit, "US vs ...Otero County"
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site561/2012/0213/20120213_081616_Complaint.pdf


The Chairman of the Otero County Commission, Commissioner Rardin , has repeatedly asserted to Forest Service officials
that Otero County is not accountable under the NEPA, the ESA, NFMA, or other federal laws , regulations ,or policies governing
the implementation of projects on National Forest System lands ...County officials have also claimed that Otero County owns
all of the National Forest System lands in Otero County...

I am there at every county commission meeting and I am pretty much the lone voice, the lone target.

If any DU'er can ever join me (from El Paso or Albuquerque or parts between...or from any of the 'public that now owns the lands but may not for long if the Republicans do what they are planning to do, according to US Rep Steve Pearce, NM Rep Yvette Herrell who just won the ALEC 'Best legislator' award have their say.

Help

[UglyGreed]

3. SMH N/T

[TRoN33]

4. Big thumbs down.

[shenmue]

5. Nooooooo

[underpants]

6. Dominion Power is running a pipeline through it too

We were in Augusta County on Sunday - lots of NO PIPELINE signs. This is a very RED part of the Commonwealth too.

[Clint0n]

16. they're probably all for keystone xl though.

as long as its in someone else's neighborhood..

[newfie11]

22. Hopefully the Lakota can stop this abomination

Of course the fact it is a reservation hasn't stopped The government from ultimately doing what it wants. Sadly

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Aren't we glad we have a "Democratic" president?

If I were the residents around GW I'd start organizing a push-back YESTERDAY. Block the equipment from coming in -- civil disobedience like what hasn't been seen in this country for 40 years. It's WAY past time.

[A Little Weird]

8. That's terrible policy

Hopefully there will be a way to appeal this decision.

[enough]

9. According to the article, it is subject to appeal.

snip from the article>

Under the new plan, which is subject to appeal, drilling will only be permitted on 167,000 acres where there are existing private mineral rights and on about 10,000 acres that are already leased to oil and gas companies. The leased acreage is in Highland County, while the private mineral rights are scattered throughout the forest.

snip>

[turbinetree]

10. Public Lands

Since ALL National Parks are owned and operated by the citizens of this country then we should have a say, lets have a national referendum on a ballot, these one person decision making process from the Forest Service follows the same line of thinking when it comes to culling the forest for logging within the KOCH conglomerates and there strip forest management, its time for a petition, was there a public comment period?
If it so safe lets send a jar of this crap to this official and see if he will drink the water, if he does then they can drill, if he doesn't they can't drill ----simple

I don't think so, not when this guy retires is he going to become a lobbyist

[ladjf]

11. Greed and stupidity. nt

[sinkingfeeling]

12. How much worse can it get? There's nothing to protect living creatures in

this country.

[CANDO]

13. Also known as fracking....

Just to be clear, fracking is what is done after the well bore is drilled. Explosive charges are sent down the well bore and set off, thereby fracturing(fracking) the surrounding shale bed. Then there is a mixture of sand, water, and chemicals pumped into the fracked shale bed to aid in the release of gas, oil, and natural gas liquids.

[navarth]

14. Well SOMEBODY'S got to provide NASCAR with gas!!

And all the gasoline toys people like to ride in the woods!!

Waiting for somebody to tell me how the President is powerless to stop this stuff. And I want a pony.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. National Forests are not National Parks.

This is not a trivial distinction.

The National Park Service is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The United States Forest Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They are two entirely different agencies, with two entirely different purposes.

You might as well complain to OSHA about railroad safety.

National Park Service entry at Wikipedia

The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all U.S. national parks, many American national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.
....

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

United States Forest Service entry at Wikipedia

The mission of the Forest Service is "To sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations." Its motto is "Caring for the land and serving people." As the lead federal agency in natural resource conservation, the US Forest Service provides leadership in the protection, management, and use of the nation’s forest, rangeland, and aquatic ecosystems. The agency's ecosystem approach to management integrates ecological, economic, and social factors to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment to meet current and future needs. Through implementation of land and resource management plans, the agency ensures sustainable ecosystems by restoring and maintaining species diversity and ecological productivity that helps provide recreation, water, timber, minerals, fish, wildlife, wilderness, and aesthetic values for current and future generations of people.

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests entry sat Wikipedia

The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests are U.S. National Forests that combine to form one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States.

It is clearly within the mission statement of the Forest Service that the forests they oversee be a source of raw materials. This is not the case for National Parks. You can go car camping for free in U.S. Forests for days at a time, but not in National Parks. That's because, when you stay in a U.S Forest, you are staying in a tree factory.

Yes, a tree factory.

This is not fracking in a National Park.

[Xithras]

23. Yep. That's a very important legal distinction, and groups have tried to change it for decades.

National Forest: Public lands managed for the shared benefit of all Americans. The forests are a "commons" and are simply managed to ensure that they are exploited in a sustainable fashion.

National Park: Public lands conserved for the protection of nature. Exploitation is not permitted, and any destruction of natural resources is a crime (unless you're San Francisco).

While environmental groups have been moderately successful at getting the courts to ensure that nature and wildlife get factored into that "shared benefit", they have not changed the fact that the federal government continues to view the national forests as exploitable resources.

[blackspade]

19. "We think we've ended up in a much better place, which is we are allowing oil and gas drilling"

Better for your corporate masters you mean.

not so much if you have to live nearby one of these environmental disasters.

[Enrique]

21. i thought he meant he bought a nicer home

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. Adding a link

U.S OKs Fracking in GW National Forest

[sakabatou]

25. Ugh

[ffr]

26. It won't matter. Virginia will be under water in a century

and you won't be able to drink the water then either.

[Judi Lynn]

27. 'Unbelievable, Terrible': Forest Service OKs Fracking in Largest National Forest on East Coast

Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2014

by Common Dreams

'Unbelievable, Terrible': Forest Service OKs Fracking in Largest National Forest on East Coast

'The President can protect the climate and public health, or he can continue to promote fracking. He cannot do both.'

by Lauren McCauley, staff writer


[font size=1]
Fracking the George Washington National Forest will threaten the water supply for over 5 million people living in and around Washington D.C. (Photo: United States Forest Service)
[/font]
Threatening the water supply for millions of Americans, the U.S. Forest Service has opened the doors for oil and gas companies to drill by fracking the largest national forest on the East Coast, the George Washington National Forest, according to an updated federal management plan released Tuesday.

Backtracking on an earlier plan to restrict fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, which has been linked to dangerous levels of air and groundwater pollution, the Obama administration reportedly caved to industry pressure to permit such drilling of the Marcellus Shale within park perimeters.

"In the face of dire warnings from the world’s foremost climate scientists about the need to phase out fossil fuels by 2100 and an authoritative body of science demonstrating the health impacts faced by communities living near oil and gas development, this administration continues to promote an 'all of the above' energy policy rather than a swift transition to renewable energy," Bruce Baizel, energy program director for environmental nonprofit Earthworks, said in a press statement following the release of the new management plan.

~snip~

The Associated Press reports:

The U.S. Forest Service originally planned to ban fracking in the 1.1 million-acre George Washington National Forest, but energy companies cried foul after a draft of the plan was released in 2011. It would have been the first outright ban on the practice in a national forest.

"We think we've ended up in a much better place, which is we are allowing oil and gas drilling," Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for natural resources and environment, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/18/unbelievable-terrible-forest-service-oks-fracking-largest-national-forest-east-coast

[Leontius]

28. This was a compromise descision that protects 84% of the forest from being developed

I would prefer no development at all but this isn't going to ruin the area.

[williesgirl]

29. I live 2 miles from it. i can kiss my clean well water goodbye and

Get ready for the fucking fracking earthquakes. Then watch as we all get cancer etc from the environment. Depressing as hell.

[enough]

31. Strangely, here's an "environmental" group supporting the policy.

https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/press-releases/conservation-groups-support-forest-service-decision-to-keep-gw-off-limits-t

A Press Release from the Southern Environmental Law Center

Local Conservation Groups Support U.S. Forest Service Decision to Keep GW National Forest Lands Off Limits to Gas Drilling and Frackin

Charlottesville, VA – Local conservation and community groups expressed support for today’s decision from the U.S. Forest Service to make the George Washington National Forest (GW) unavailable for oil and gas drilling, except for a small portion of the forest already under gas lease or subject to private mineral rights.

The long-term forest management plan, released today, makes clear that no additional GW lands will be opened up to leasing and drilling, while existing gas development rights remain unaddressed by the plan. On this 1.1-million acre forest, only around 10,000 acres are currently under gas lease and 167,000 acres are subject to private mineral rights. There is no gas drilling on the GW currently.

“This decision protects the existing uses and values of the special George Washington National Forest,” said Sarah Francisco, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “As a native Virginian who grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, I’m pleased that the U.S. Forest Service has done the right thing and recognized that the George Washington National Forest—a beloved place for our entire region—deserves protection.”

More spin at link above>