For more than 60 years the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has been managing gas development on state forest lands, learning from what is happening on the ground and constantly improving practices. With recent interest in the Marcellus Shale increasing activity, Governor Corbett authorized 15 new DCNR staff dedicated to monitoring gas development to supplement work occurring every day in the field.
DCNR just released its first report detailing efforts to detect and track the impacts of gas activity on public lands. It contains hundreds of pages of data on the department's measurements for 15 different values including water, wildlife, soil and opportunities for people to enjoy state forests.
We are inviting the scientists, industry representatives and environmental groups on our advisory committees and the public to tell us what they think about this monitoring data, with the easiest way to comment being an online survey available on our website.
From data analysis we have adjusted our practices to limit truck traffic for water hauling; refine requirements to address invasive species; provide additional snowmobile recreational opportunities; limit forest fragmentation by placing activity close to existing roads and pipelines; and much more.
Managing our state forests for multiple uses and values is a balancing act, and opinions from forest users about what's important conflict. We are proud that for 16 years, peers through an independent certification process have validated that our state forests are well-managed to protect their future health.
In addition to our management activities, DCNR created a new Natural Gas Advisory Committee with representatives from the conservation, academic and industry communities that we meet with regularly. And we've added more than 33,000 acres to our state forest over the past five years.
This is just the start of our measurements and adjustments, as we acknowledge oftentimes trends or effects aren't evident for years. We believe the breadth and depth of the report shows our careful management of shale gas production on state forests.