Pennsylvania has already leased out to frackers nearly half of the state forestland that sits above Marcellus shale natural-gas reserves. The rest is considered environmentally sensitive or difficult to access, and it has been protected from fracking since a Democratic governor imposed a limited forest-fracking moratorium in 2010.
But Gov. Tom Corbett (R), who took office in early 2011, thinks it’s time to frack the whole damn lot. He proposes opening up those lands to leasing, which his administration says could raise $75 million a year. The first year the money would go toward the general fund, but they say in subsequent years it would go to state parks and forests.
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