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.
Good evening. My name is Bruce Buckle, I am testifying as President of the Board of Directors of the Lycoming Audubon Society on behalf of our membership of approximately 350 individuals.
Lycoming Audubon is a local Chapter of the National Audubon Society serving Lycoming and Clinton counties.
“Birds Unite Us. Enjoyment of birds and the natural world drives Lycoming Audubon’s education and conservation work, centered in communities.”
That’s our mission. We work to conserve and restore ecosystems and use our voice to advocate for policies that help birds.
Lycoming Audubon believes that our State Forests are a vital asset that deserve the highest level of protection.
Extensive drilling for natural gas and the development of related infrastructure degrades our state forest lands, and poses a significant threat to the birds and other wildlife that depend upon forested habitat.
Fragmentation of contiguous forest lands, as well as noise from construction and drilling and hauling operations, threatens birds and other wildlife, and reduces the recreational value of forest lands.
Eastern forest birds are already in steep decline. According to the 2025 State of the Birds Report forest species have lost 27% of their population over the past 50 years.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy website notes that forest interior birds, including warblers, thrushes, vireos, flycatchers, and tanagers, depend upon large, contiguous tracts of forest to maintain healthy populations.
Nearly a quarter of the 90 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) listed in the 2015 Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan are forest interior birds.
The Wood Thrush is an iconic forest song bird impacted by projects like the proposed road construction and related pad development.
According to the 2025 State of the Birds report the Wood Thrush has lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes that habitat fragmentation results in lower quality food choices and exposes Wood Thrush nests to predators, including parasitic breeders like the Brown-headed Cowbird.
A birder friend describes the flute-like song of the Wood Thrush as “God’s music.”
In 1931 renowned local educator and naturalist Charles Lose, camping on the Loyalsock, wrote, the “song [of the Wood Thrush] feels ancient and solemn, carrying a sense of permanence even as the natural world around it shows signs of loss and change.”
Today, no one can make that claim of permanence.
In June 2024 expert birders David and Bobby Brown walked Dad-Dad Chapman Road, identifying 49 species of birds, including five Wood Thrush.
They heard or saw ten different species of wood warblers, as well as Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos.
Their eBird list also included one Ruffed Grouse, a species in precipitous decline, and five Scarlet Tanagers, another iconic Pennsylvania forest bird impacted by forest fragmentation.
Will future birders be as blessed to find such diversity in Penn’s Woods?
Industrial shale gas development is incompatible with the conservation mandate to protect state forest lands for birds and other wildlife.
This particular proposal, for the reasons given above, and for its proximity to the popular Jacoby Falls Trail and the apparent closure of other points of access to state forest land like Dad-Dad Chapman Road, represents another step in the wrong direction for a state that professes to promote its natural beauty and conservation ethic as reasons to visit and live in Pennsylvania.
For these reasons the Lycoming Audubon Society urges the Department of Environmental Protection to deny PA General Energy’s permit application for the 3.9 mile access road and shale gas staging area in Gamble and Cascade Townships.
Visit DEP’s Northcentral Regional Office Community webpage for documents related to the PGE Saluda Project.
(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]
[Posted: February 9, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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