PA Environment Digest Blog: Guest Comments: How Is PA General Energy Allowed To Destroy Natural Forest Values To Which I Am Entitled To Enjoy With Its Shale Gas Well Pads And Access Road Project In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County?

By Cynthia Bower, Resident

The following comments were submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection as part of the February 3, 2026 virtual hearing on the proposed PA General Energy’s ‘Saluda’ shale gas access road and staging area project in the Loyalsock State Forest, Cascade and Gamble Townships, Lycoming County.

My name is Cynthia Bower. I live in Gamble Township, Lycoming County, approximately three-quarters mile from the Loyalsock State Forest.

Since 1973, I have recreated in the State Forest area of the Saluda Project (Saluda).

I consider the land area of Saluda, with its core forest, spectacular waterfall, roadless areas and Exceptional Value waters to be a jewel of Lycoming County.

I have guided adults and children on educational outings to Jacoby Falls and delighted in their joys as they dashed under the curtain of water and explored the rock overhangs.

This was "wilderness," a haven in the nature-deprived and screen-addicted culture to which we have become indifferent.

On my 150-acre property, I have a non-surface-disturbance gas lease.

I am not opposed to infrastructure and activities that are developed in ways that do not harm the public's natural resources as guaranteed by Article I Section 27 of the State Constitution, the Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA).

In reviewing PGE's application, the ERA, Chapter 93, and 25 Pa. Code section 105.18a as statutory law under the ERA, DCNR and DEP are mandated to uphold their trustee duties to "conserve and maintain" the public natural resources of our State lands per a 2017 Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion.

I do not believe Saluda meets these mandates.

Impacts to the ecology of the core forest as a whole and the exceptional values of the natural streams must be studied holistically before any declaration of potential non-degradation.

Optimum siting must be that which is in accord with the ERA, not PGE.

The degradation that has taken place due to PGE's gas development on the Allegheny Ridge to the south and east of Saluda is jaw-dropping and beyond comprehension.

I have driven the gray slop road out this ridge all the way to the pad at the western end to witness the unconscionable destruction of core forest and headwaters lands.

The Loyalsock Trail, built and maintained by volunteers and traveled for years by me and thousands of others has been forever changed.

As a public trust beneficiary, I am harmed and horrified at the blatant desecration of what was extensive and integral State Forest, now no longer "forest" but an industrial, fragmented landscape punctuated by a patchwork of trees.

How is PGE permitted to destroy the natural forest values to which I am entitled to enjoy?

On the Allegheny Ridge and in other State Forests, DCNR and DEP have failed to protect my rights and those of all beneficiaries under the ERA.

Concerns outlined above are brought to center stage on the Allegheny Ridge.

This travesty must not happen with Saluda. Enough is enough, and even, already, too much.

Saluda as proposed must be denied. It remains to be seen whether our constitutionally-bound Commonwealth trustees have the will, strength of mind, and courage to do so.

(Photos: Documented shale gas development impacts in Tioga State Forest by Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group-- top- Tioga State Forest well pads; bottom-- Baldwin Run Road 24/7 shale gas highway; Recently cleared pipeline right-of-way between Baldwin Run and Norris Brook.)

Other Comments On PGE Project:

-- Guest Comments: How Is PA General Energy Allowed To Destroy Natural Forest Values To Which I Am Entitled To Enjoy With Its Shale Gas Well Pad And Access Road Project In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County? - By Cynthia Bower, Resident [PaEN]

-- Guest Comments: Jacoby & Cove Mountains In Loyalsock State Forest Will Be Degraded For Generations By PA General Energy's 'Saluda' Shale Gas Access Road, Staging Area Project In Lycoming County - By Barbara Jarmoska, Resident [PaEN]

-- Guest Comments: PA General Energy Shale Gas Road, Well Pads Project Would Close Access To State Forest Land, Threaten Already Threatened Forest Bird Species In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County -- By Bruce Buckle, President, Lycoming Audubon Society [PaEN]

Resource Links - PGE Project:

-- DEP To Hold Feb. 3 Virtual Hearing On Chapter 105 Permit For PA General Energy 3.9 Mile Shale Gas Well Pad Development Access Road, Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County [PaEN]

-- PA Trout Unlimited, Keystone Trails Assn., Responsible Drilling Alliance Request DEP To Hold Hearing On Permit For PA General Energy 3.9 Mile Shale Gas Access Road/Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Chapter 105 Permit Correcting Violations By PA General Energy In Constructing The Shawnee Water Intake On The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Feb. 7 to 20 - Conventional Well Owners Abandoning More Than 1 Well A Day; No Approval For Disposal Of Shale Drill Cuttings [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - February 14 [PaEN]

-- DEP To Hold March 19 Meeting, April 7 Hearing On Shell Petrochemical Plant Air Quality Plan Approval For Ground Flares, Wastewater Treatment Plant, As-Built Air Pollution Equipment In Beaver County [PaEN]