Gas wells ignite hopes and fears

The biggest news in this area since I was born is the emerging gas well business. As you can see from a sign posted in a yard in Wellsboro the "Fracking" which is a method of pumping water and chemicals into shale to get the gas out has been met with some opposition.
The down side of gas exploration is immediately obvious. Constant truck traffic 24/7 destroying roads, noisy drilling and a complete disruption of the recreational seclusion this area has enjoyed.
The upside, "money". Money for people drilling and landowners lucky enough to have a lease and drilling supplying them with the kind of money never seen in these hills.


I don't blame anyone for taking the money. It is hard making a living here. People work twice as hard for half as much and most live below the poverty line. Seeing the sky glowing at night from the gas wells gives me an eiry apocalyptic feeling. Meeting truck after dusty truck on the roads and seeing our roads posted with signs like in the third picture...makes it seem like an industrial zone.

The signs say: No refueling zone, Keep moving no parking, waterbody and wetland boundry. When they first popped up we all wondered who they were for. Could we not stop? Or need to know where the water is? I am not sure if the gas company puts these up or the DEP, but hopefully it will help protect some of the area from spills in bad places.

Just when you think you know how to get somewhere you will likely be met with the last sign. Road Closed. Here a road closed can mean a 20 mile detour so it is not a welcome sign. I have to say..I am bad and ignore the signs until someone tells me in person otherwise. So far, that has not happened. I think they forget to take the signs down when they are done with whatever they think the road needs to be closed for.
This is just the beginning as the State has started to lease some forest. Nothing near us yet, but it is coming. If the sign changes to forest closed...the mountain girl will not be a happy girl.
Well, a small sample of what your camp will be like this year. Grin and bear it. Lets hope when it is over the area has benefited more then it has been sucked dry.
Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.